Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist arrested last month in Iran while on a reporting trip, was released and was returning to Italy on Wednesday, the Italian government said in a statement.
Ms. Sala, who had a journalist’s visa, was arrested on December 19 on charges of violating the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran, but officials provided no further details.
“The plane bringing journalist Cecilia Sala home took off a few minutes ago from Tehran,” the Italian government announced on Wednesday morning, adding that “thanks to intense work on diplomatic and intelligence channels, our compatriot has been released by the Iranian authorities.”
Ms Sala, 29, was held for 20 days and told her family she was kept in an isolation cell, with only two blankets and constant light.
Fars, a news agency affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also reported news of Ms. Sala’s release, citing the Italian prime minister.
On Wednesday, Sala’s partner, Daniele Raineri, said he had called him and told him: “I’m free.”
“I’m so happy,” Raineri said as he prepared to go to the airport to say goodbye to Ms. Sala. He said the wait had been “excruciating” but that Italy had done “an exceptional job”.
It is unclear how Italy obtained Ms. Sala’s release.
She was taken into custody three days after Milan police arrested Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi, a 38-year-old Iranian, on behalf of the United States. Abedini has been accused by the United States of supplying drone components to the Revolutionary Guards, the country’s main military force.
Iranian authorities said on December 25 that they expected “the Italian government to prevent the violation of the human rights of the Iranian citizen who was wrongly accused by the United States.”
Iran has often jailed foreigners and dual citizens to extract concessions from their countries, including prisoner exchanges, but Iranian officials said Monday there was no connection between Abedini’s arrest and Sala’s.
On Wednesday, Mr. Abedini’s lawyer in Italy, Alfredo De Francesco, did not respond to questions about developments in Mr. Abedini’s case. He said he was happy with Ms Sala’s release and that he now needed to focus on his client’s case.
Ms Sala’s visit to Iran was her first since 2021 and a lot has changed in the country since then. A new president had been elected, the shadow war with Israel had come into the open, and Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president and longtime ally, had recently been ousted.
Ms. Sala, 29, a writer and podcaster, decided to document the changing atmosphere. He interviewed a stand-up comedian and photographed women in bars and on the streets who did not wear headscarves, posting a selection of images on Instagram last month and describing them as “the new faces and new streets of Tehran”.
On Dec. 19, as he prepared to leave the hotel for a meeting around noon, his phone was disconnected from the Internet, a person close to the family said. For 24 hours her family had no news from her, until the plane on which Mrs Sala was supposed to leave took off without her. Then, they received a phone call. “I was arrested,” Ms. Sala told her family. “I’m not hurt.”
The news of Ms. Sala’s detention became public about a week later, on December 27, after receiving a visit from the Italian ambassador to Iran. Ms Sala’s detention has dominated media coverage in Italy and President Sergio Mattarella mentioned her case in his end-of-year message.
Mr Raineri said Ms Sala’s plane was due to land in Rome on Wednesday.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called Ms. Sala’s parents on Wednesday to tell them she would return, according to the government statement.
Leily Nikounazar contributed to the reporting.