Italian Journalist Freed from Iran: Cecilia Sala's Return to Italy

Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist detained in Iran, has been released and is on her way back to Italy. Her freedom was secured through intensive diplomatic and intelligence efforts. Sala's detention had been linked to the case of an Iranian engineer arrested in Italy on a US warrant.

Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist with Il Foglio, has been released from detention in Iran and is now en route to Italy, according to a statement from Premier Giorgia Meloni's office on Wednesday.

The plane carrying Sala departed from Tehran after successful negotiations through diplomatic and intelligence channels.

Sala's arrest in Tehran on December 19 occurred shortly after she arrived on a journalist visa, coinciding with the arrest of an Iranian engineer in Italy wanted by the US.

(With inputs from agencies.)