Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, who was held by Tehran police for almost three weeks for her "journalistic activities," has been released and is headed home.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced in a post on X that Sala, who was detained on December 19, was on a plane to Italy on January 8.
"Thanks to intense work on diplomatic and intelligence channels, our compatriot has been released by the Iranian authorities and is returning to Italy," Meloni said.
The 29-year-old, who has a podcast called Stories that covers life in places around the world, was held for over a week before Iranian authorities confirmed her detention.
No details of the charges were made public, but they came after Sala posted a podcast from Tehran on December 17 about patriarchy in the Iranian capital.
Three days before Sala's detention, Mohammad Abedini, an Iranian-Swiss businessman who is wanted by the United States for his alleged involvement in a deadly drone attack on an American base in Jordan, was arrested in Milan, Italy.
Iran called Abedini's arrest "illegal" and subsequently summoned the Italian ambassador to Tehran over the issue.
The United States called Sala's detention "retaliatory," while media watchdogs Reporters Without Borders and the International Federation of Journalists described her arrest as "arbitrary" and aimed at "extortion."
Iran is routinely accused of arresting dual nationals and Western citizens on false charges to use them to pressure Western countries.
Reza Valizadeh, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen and former journalist for RFE/RL's Radio Farda, was handed a 10-year sentence by Tehran's Revolutionary Court in December on charges of "collaborating with a hostile government."
Valizadeh resigned from Radio Farda in November 2022 after a decade of work. He returned to Iran in early 2024 to visit his family but was arrested on September 22.
His two court sessions, held on November 20 and December 7, reportedly lacked a prosecution representative, with the judge assuming that role.
Sources close to the journalist claim he fell into a "security trap" despite receiving unofficial assurances from Iranian security officials that he would not face legal troubles upon returning to Iran.
Iran is among the most repressive countries in terms of freedom of the press. Reporters Without Borders ranked Iran 176th out of 180 countries in its 2024 World Press Freedom Index.
The Paris-based media watchdog says Iran is now also one of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists.