She said she had read that Italy had arrested an Iranian engineer three days earlier at the request of the United States. The engineer, Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi, was wanted for his alleged role in providing drone technology for Iran that was used in an attack that killed three American soldiers in Jordan.

An Italian journalist detained in Iran whose fate became intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States says she assumed she would have been held much longer.

The Italian journalist was released soon after Elon Musk met with an Iranian ambassador, officials in Iran said. So was an Iranian detained in Italy who was wanted by the U.S.

And in 2024 came Reading Lolita in Tehran, directed by Eran Riklis, who is Israeli, and adapted from a book by an Iranian author, with an almost entirely Iranian cast. The film premiered at the Rome Film Fest last year and is now starting to tour the United States.

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Italy’s Giorgia Meloni has emerged as the US president’s favourite EU interlocutor, with hopes growing she could talk him out of a trade war.

Italian journalist Cecilia Sala has told how Elon Musk played a pivotal role in her release from an Iranian detention center.

Russia and Iran signed a new treaty on Friday underpinning their economic and military cooperation, in what both sides cast as a major milestone in their relations.

The New York Times had reported that Musk had helped secure Sala's release, at the request of her boyfriend, by reaching out to Iran's ambassador to the United Nations.

At least 80 people have been killed by Israeli air strikes on Gaza, it has been reported. A ceasefire and hostage return deal was reached on Wednesday, but has yet to be ratified by the Israeli parliament. According to authorities in Gaza, 81 people have been killed in the last 24 hours and 188 have been injured.

After forging unexpectedly fond ties with President Biden, Italy’s right-wing Premier Giorgia Meloni is poised to leverage a more natural alliance with incoming President Trump that positions her as a key interlocutor between the U.

The linked cases of Iranian engineer Mohammad Abedini and Italian reporter Cecilia Sala are the latest flashpoint between Tehran and Washington.