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.”

Meloni’s office praised the “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels” in securing Sala’s release.

Iran has denied any link between Sala’s detention and the arrest of an Iranian businessman days earlier days by Italian authorities. The United States accused the Iranian of illegally supplying drone parts used in an attack that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan. Iran has denied involvement in the strike.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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