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The US has asked Italy to arrest and extradite the Iranian national for allegedly handing over drone technology.
Tehran, Iran – Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Justice confirmed that Iranian citizen Mohammad Abedini, who was arrested in Italy on the orders of the United States, has been released.
Abedini was returned to Tehran after being arrested as part of a “misunderstanding”, the judiciary's official newsletter Mizan said on Sunday.
The report, also broadcast by state television, said his release was secured after talks between Iran's intelligence ministry and Italian intelligence.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, in a brief statement, welcomed the release of the Iranian national accused by Washington of involvement in a January 2024 drone attack. against a US outpost in Jordan which killed three American soldiers. He stressed that the ministry will protect the rights of Iranian citizens abroad.
Abedini was arrested on a US warrant on December 16, accused along with another Iranian of supplying drone technology to Iran that was used on a US military base.
He was due to appear in court in Milan on Wednesday in connection with his request for house arrest pending extradition proceedings to the US. However, the Italian Ministry of Justice asked an appeals court to overturn his arrest, arguing that he “does not correspond to conduct recognized by Italian criminal law.”
Three days after Abedini's arrest, Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was detained in Tehran while traveling on a regular journalist visa and accused of “violating the laws of the Islamic Republic”.
The writer and podcaster was released last week from solitary confinement at Evin prison in the Iranian capital and returned home, where she was welcomed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
Meloni personally made a surprise visit to the Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida in the US a few days earlier to meet US President-elect Donald Trump, who called her a “fantastic woman”.
Tehran dismissed any Western speculation that the journalist's arrest was linked to Rome's detention of Abedini on US orders. The Iranian prison has been accused for decades of using some prisoners as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West.
A Swiss national detained on espionage charges died in a prison in Iran's Semnan province on Thursday.
A court in Iran last month sentenced an Iranian-American journalist to 10 years in prison for “collaborating with a hostile US government”.
Iran also accuses the West, particularly the US, of targeting its citizens under Washington's unilateral sanctions and blacklists, many of which were imposed after then-President Trump abandoned Iran's nuclear deal with world powers in 2018 .
The tension remains high
Abedini's release on Sunday comes as Iran and the region continue to remain on high alert amid the widening fallout from Israel's war on Gaza, with Trump's second presidency just days away.
Senior Iranian commanders from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and army this week warned the US and Israel against any strikes on Iran's nuclear or energy infrastructure.
On Sunday, Iran's armed forces completed large-scale military exercises aimed at practicing a multi-layered defense of Ford and Hondab nuclear sites using multiple anti-missile and radar systems.
As part of the drills, which began last week and are expected to last for weeks, the IRGC also simulated a defense of the country's main nuclear facilities in Natanz against an attack using fighter jets, missiles and bunker bombs.
Iran's armed forces also unveiled another “missile city” this week to display hundreds of ballistic missiles that commanders said they would be ready to fire against Israel and US bases in the region if Iran was attacked.
As part of the show of force that comes after Iran lost a much of the regional axis of resistance With the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Iran also this week brought 110,000 troops to demonstrations in Tehran.
Iran's nuclear program could also take different paths, according to the Trump administration's position is expected to determine the balance of the relationship in 2025 as the West also continues to accuse Tehran of arming Russia in its war with Ukraine.
