An Italian journalist detained in Iran for three weeks has been freed and has returned home, after her fate had become intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer arrested in Italy and wanted by the United States.

Italian journalist Cecilia Sala has been freed from an Iranian prison and is on a plane home, a spokesperson for the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Wednesday.

After more than three weeks of detention, Cecilia Sala has been released from Tehran's Evin Prison and was met at the airport in Rome by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The Italian journalist was released soon after Elon Musk met with an Iranian ambassador, officials in Iran said. So was an Iranian detained in Italy who was wanted by the U.S.

The Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, arrested on December 19 in Iran, was released and repatriated, the Italian government announced. She was arrested for “violating the laws” of the Islamic Republic.

Cecilia Sala, who was arrested in Tehran and jailed for three weeks, has arrived back in Italy, hours after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office announced her release.

Cecilia Sala, 29, was detained last month while on a reporting trip. She had been held for 20 days and told her family that she was kept in isolation.

Celilia Sala, 29, was working under a regular journalistic visa when she was detained in Tehran on December 19, accused of “violating the laws of the Islamic Republic”.

Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi was held in Milan after accusations he had supplied drone technology to Iran's military.

Elon Musk played no role in negotiations between Italy and Iran for the release of a journalist who was held in a Tehran prison, Italy's foreign minister said on Friday, dismissing a media report that the U.

Elon Musk was instrumental in securing the release of a young Italian journalist who was jailed in Iran on trumped up charges, it was reported on Thursday.