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Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist detained in Iran for three weeks, has been released and is on her way back to Italy, according to a statement from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office.

Who was Cecilia Sala? Italian Journalist Freed After Three Weeks in Iranian Detention

“The plane carrying journalist Cecilia Sala home took off from Tehran a few minutes ago,” the statement read, crediting her release to “intense work on diplomatic and intelligence channels.”

The Iranian government has not yet commented on the 29-year-old journalist's release.

Sala was detained on December 19, shortly before she was scheduled to return home. She had arrived in Iran three days earlier on a journalist visa, working as a reporter for the Il Foglio newspaper and as a freelancer for Chora Media, a podcast production company.

Local reports indicate that Sala stopped responding to messages on December 18, the day before her planned departure, which coincided with her detention. Iranian state media reported that Sala had “violated the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance announced an investigation into her case.

Who was Cecilia Sala? Italian Journalist Freed After Three Weeks in Iranian Detention

Her employer, Il Foglio, defended her work at the time of her arrest, stating:

"Journalism is not a crime. Cecilia was in Iran with a valid visa to report on a country she knows and loves, a country where information is suffocated by repression."

Following her detention, Italy’s foreign ministry pledged to handle the case with "utmost attention," employing high-level political and diplomatic efforts to ensure her release.

Sala’s return marks the end of a challenging ordeal for the journalist, whose work sheds light on regions where press freedom faces significant restrictions.

An Italian journalist detained in Iran last month has been freed and is on a flight back to Rome, the Italian government says.

Cecilia Sala, 29, was arrested on 19 December, three days after an Iranian engineer was detained by Italian authorities in Milan on suspicion of supplying drone technology that led to the deaths of US soldiers.