ROME (Reuters) -Italian journalist Cecilia Sala has been freed from detention in Iran and is flying home, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office said on Wednesday. Sala, 29, had been working under a regular journalistic visa but was detained in Tehran on Dec.

An Italian journalist detained in Iran since Dec. 19 and whose fate became intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States was freed Wednesday and is heading home, Italian officials announced.

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.

Prominent Italian journalist and podcaster Cecilia Sala has been freed from Tehran’s Evin prison for political prisoners where she had been detained since Dec. 19. A spokesman for Italian Premiere Giorgia Meloni's office on Wed.

Cecilia Sala, 29, who was detained last month in Iran while on a reporting trip, was on a plane back to her home country, the Italian government announced.

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.