Cecilia Sala, 29, who was detained last month while on a reporting trip, was on a plane home, the Italian government announced.

Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was freed from an Iranian prison Wednesday and was flying home, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office said. Her release came three weeks after she was detained in Tehran while working on a journalist visa. Iran had accused Sala of “violating the law of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Italian journalist freed from detention in Iran - Journalist Cecilia Sala, 29, left Tehran on Wednesday after being detained there in December

Word of Sala’s release is met with cheers in Italy, where her plight had dominated headlines, as lawmakers hail the successful negotiations to bring

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.

Italian PM Giorgia Meloni's office told the media that a plane carrying Cecilia Sala took off from Tehran after “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels,” and Meloni had informed Sala's parents of the news.

Italy has summoned Iran’s ambassador to demand the immediate release of an Italian journalist detained in Tehran.

Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist who had been arrested in Tehran and jailed for three weeks, was freed and sent back to Italy, according to a statement by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office.

The case of the prominent Italian journalist detained in Iran is a test for Italy’s government as it gets caught up in Iran’s shadow war with the U.S.

A plane carrying journalist Cecilia Sala has left Tehran and will soon arrive back in Italy, Italian authorities announced on Wednesday. Sala had been held in the Iranian capital's notorious Evin