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On the 8th of January 2025 Cecilia Sala, the Italian journalist detained for over twenty days in Iran’s Evin prison, returned to Italy. An event that was immediately branded as a huge diplomatic success by Giorgia Meloni and the government forces that intervened to obtain the reporter’s release and repatriation.
A diplomatic work, complex and silent, that required lucidity and manoeuvres as surgical as they were daring. The government, the secret services, the press and the family walked in balance, even though they felt the fragile stability of each step.
The facts: from the arrest to Cecilia’s release
Last December – on the 19th to be precise – Cecilia Sala was arrested and taken to the Evin penitentiary, the place of detention mainly for political prisoners. It was not until the 27th of December that the Farnesina in Italy broke the news, considering the complex political and diplomatic implications of such a case. A few hours later came the confirmation from the Iranian authorities and media, defining the reasons, in a generic way, for the arrest of the 29-year-old voice of Chora Media and Il Foglio: ‘violation of the laws of the Islamic republic’.
With the passing of the hours and of the days, the case began to have international relevance: some of the world’s major newspapers covered the story, looking at the framework in which the protagonists were moving between the institutions, the detainee and the casus belli. At present, the reasons that led to Sala’s detention and release are still unclear, but there are several credited hypotheses that see an involvement, perhaps indirect, of the United States as well. The diplomatic work behind the journalist’s release was silent, swift and efficient. This is the reason why, as of 12 pm on Wednesday 8th January, the efforts of PM Meloni and the AISE – Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna, the Italian intelligence service – led by Giovanni Caravelli, are being celebrated globally. We are talking about the man who not only led the operations of the intelligence services, but who also literally flew to Tehran after Sala’s release and made the trip back to Italy with her.
The hypotheses: the Italy-Rome-US axis, the meeting with Trump and the detention of the Iranian engineer Abedini in Italy
Regardless of what was detected during Sala’s weeks in captivity, there could be a link between the detention of Iranian engineer Abedini in Italy, accused by the US of conspiracy, criminal conspiracy and violation of trade laws, and the arrest of the journalist just hours before her scheduled return to Italy. However, both the Italian and Iranian governments denied any connection, even though there was a bizarre temporal coincidence.
Abedini himself, through the voice of his lawyer, has repeatedly reiterated that he is not a terrorist, but a scholar who would have no intention of fleeing if he were released, or if he were granted house arrest. On this point, the Iranian institutions themselves have played an important card: the assumption of responsibility for the 38-year-old engineer’s stay. Indeed, Abedini’s defence lawyer has even proposed that he be released and remain at one of the Iranian consular offices in Milan.
Therefore, if a link between the two events were to be confirmed in the future, the involvement of the United States would be even more blatant. A few days before Sala’s release, Giorgia Meloni flew to Florida, to Mar-a-Lago, to meet Donald Trump, the next US President starting from Inauguration Day on 20 January. The conversation between the two leaders took place without attracting media attention; a trip, the one undertaken by the Italian Prime Minister, that was almost secret.
The New York Times is reported to have explained the reason, reporting that Meloni had pushed the Sala case so hard that she had impressed Trump positively in terms of diplomatic skills and, in hindsight, avoiding possible interference in the delicate process of release and repatriation.
Although Sala is now in Italy, the issue remains unresolved. The reason being that the extradition of the Iranian citizen still detained in Italy, requested by the US, has not taken place, but Sala is free. And there’s more: after the journalist’s repatriation, the Iranian foreign ministry told a well-known Italian TV station (La7) that it was waiting for Abedini’s release, hoping that ‘Italy will not get involved in the old war between the US and Iran’. Powerful statements, which do not allow a suspension of speculation on the Abedini-Sala bond.
In any case, Justice Minister Nordio, as well as Foreign Minister and Council Vice-President Antonio Tajani, reiterated that the Abedini issue is a matter for the judiciary authority and that political intervention is not relevant at present.
Giorgia Meloni also expressed that same opinion during her usual press conference at the beginning of the year, on the 9th of January 2025. Responding to the journalists’ questions, the Prime Minister first of all asked for caution, because “there are 500 other Italians in Iran”, and then explained that the issue is under technical examination by the judicial authorities, and must be dealt with “with our American friends”, emphasising that discussions are there and are constant.
A success for the Meloni government: ‘a team effort’
Regardless of the causes that dictated Sala’s arrest, in the last few hours the diplomatic work carried out by Giorgia Meloni in the first place, and then by all the other forces that deployed expertise and tools to succeed in bringing Sala home, has been celebrated. Even the opposition came up with nothing but words of esteem for Meloni’s work: Elly Schlein, leader of the PD, was the first to comment on the news following the press note published by the Prime Minister’s Office, reporting: ‘The release of Cecilia Sala is a relief, and knowing that she will soon be in Italy fills us with joy. Thanks to the government, the diplomatic corps, the services and those who have worked tirelessly over these 20 days of apprehension and anguish for this result’. This was followed by enthusiastic reactions from Giuseppe Conte, leader of the Five Star Movement, Matteo Renzi and Carlo Calenda and all the other personalities from the institutions and the press in toto.
A job that Meloni herself described as a ‘team effort’, starting from the intelligence services to the ‘officials and state servants who worked with discretion and professionalism’. Among other things, the President also thanked the press, which had respected the request not to insist in the media on the Sala affair, allowing diplomatic operations not to be affected, and the family, for the resilience and respect for the work carried out by all those involved in the negotiations.
A choral action that, however, and this is a confidence that Meloni made to the press on the 9th of January, gave her the greatest emotion since she has been in government: ‘Phoning Cecilia’s mother was the greatest emotion of over two years’.
The major international newspapers have reported the news of Sala’s release and have also praised the diplomatic work carried out by Italy, especially by the PM in recent weeks, looking ahead to the lightning trip to Florida and thus to the meeting with Donald Trump that, according to everyone, marks a fundamental step for future collaboration between the two countries.