Iran released Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, whose arrest in Tehran last month had sparked fears of a lengthy hostage crisis.

ROME (AP) — 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.

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

Italian reporter Cecilia Sala was released from an Iranian prison and is on a plane leaving the country, the Italian government said in a statement on Wednesday.

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

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

ROME (Reuters) - Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, who had been arrested and imprisoned in Iran, has been freed and is on a plane taking her back home, the office of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a statement on Wednesday.

Italian journalist Cecilia Sala has been freed from detention in Iran and is flying home, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office said on Wednesday.

ROME - Italian journalist Cecilia Sala has been freed from detention in Iran and is flying home, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office said in a statement on Jan 8.

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.