Iran likely held Cecilia Sala as a bargaining chip after an Iranian businesses was arrested in Italy on a U.S. warrant.

An Italian journalist detained in Iran for three weeks was freed Wednesday and returned home, after her fate had become intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer arrested in Italy and wanted by the United States.

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 and podcaster Cecilia Sala has been freed by Iran following 'Intensive' diplomatic effort by the country's prime minister

After more than three weeks of detention, Cecilia Sala has been released from Tehran's Evin Prison and was met at the airport in Rome by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

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 reporter Cecilia Sala hugged her partner and her parents on the tarmac at Rome's Ciampino military airport on Wednesday (January 8) after being freed from an Iranian prison. Sala was working under a regular journalistic visa when she was detained in Tehran on December 19,

Italian journalist Cecilia Sala had an emotional reunion with her boyfriend and her parents when she arrived in Italy after being released from detention in Iran. She was also welcomed back by Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni.