A plane carrying Cecilia Sala, 29, landed at Rome’s Ciampino airport, where Premier Giorgia Meloni was on hand to welcome her alongside Sala's family.

Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was on a plane home Wednesday after being freed from an Iranian prison, the result of tireless diplomatic lobbying behind the scenes, the Italian government said.

An Italian journalist detained in Iran since Dec. 19 has been freed. Premier Giorgia Meloni's office said Wednesday that a plane carrying Cecilia Sala left Tehran after “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels.

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.

British police said on Wednesday they had arrested a third man over the stabbing of a journalist working for a Persian language media organisation in London in March last year.

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.

Sala, a 29-year-old reporter for the Il Foglio daily, was detained in Tehran on Dec. 19, three days after she arrived on a journalist visa. She was accused of violating the laws of the Islamic Republic,

Sala has been detained in Iran since 19 December, three days after she arrived in the country on a journalist visa. View on euronews

It's believed that Iran detained Italian journalist Cecilia Sala to use as a bargaining chip for the release of two Iranians held by Italy and the U.S.