An Italian journalist who was detained in Iran has said she assumed she would have been held much longer, and said her boyfriend’s contact with Elon Musk might have been “fundamental” to her release.

Billionaire tech entrepreneur is believed to have interceded on behalf of Cecilia Sala who was incarcerated in the notorious Evin prison

An Italian journalist detained in Iran has been freed and is heading back to Italy, prime minister Giorgia Meloni has announced. A plane carrying Cecilia Sala, 29, took off from Tehran after “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels”, a statement said.

Italian journalist Cecilia Sala has expressed relief following her release from 21 days of detention in Iran, attributing her swift return partly to a connection with Elon Musk. In a recent interview,

An Italian journalist detained in Iran whose fate became intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States says she assumed she would have been held much longer.

Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, freed after three weeks in Iranian detention, returned to Rome, and greeted by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Her release, tied to a US-wanted Iranian engineer, marked a major political win for Meloni.

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