Italian journalist Cecilia Sala freed by Iran

In the Italian statement, Meloni thanked “all those who contributed to to making Cecilia’s return possible”.

She had personally told Sala’s parents of her release, it added. Sala’s plane had already left Tehran and was due to arrive in Rome at 15:30 (14:30 GMT) on Wednesday, according to Ansa news agency.

Her partner, fellow journalist Daniele Raineri, told Ansa: “I spoke to her and she told me ‘I’ll see you soon’, she was emotional and overjoyed.”

Cecilia Sala’s detention in prison in Tehran outraged Italians and has dominated headlines since her employer, podcast company Chora Media, broke the news of her arrest on 27 December.

Meloni is understood to have taken personal charge of her case and met US president-elect Donald Trump at the weekend, when the journalist’s detention is thought to have been discussed.

Outgoing president Joe Biden is due to visit Rome later this week.

Iran said initially it had detained Sala for “violation of the Islamic Republic’s laws”, however US state department officials said it could be linked to the arrest of Iranian national Mohammad Abedini at Malpensa airport in Milan on 16 December.

He was arrested on a US warrant and one official told Italian media that Sala was being used as “political leverage”.

Mohammad Abedini is due to go before a court in Milan on 15 January, and Tehran has in recent days played down any connection between the two cases.

The head of Italy’s foreign intelligence service, Giovanni Caravelli, is said to have travelled to Tehran personally to bring Sala back to Italy.

Her father Renato Sala told Ansa news agency he was proud of her and praised the government for an “exceptional job”.

He said he had had the impression that the situation had turned into a “game of chess, but with more than two players”.