By Crispian Balmer ROME (Reuters) -Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was freed by Iran on Wednesday and returned home, three weeks after she was detained in Tehran during a reporting trip. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani were on hand to greet the 29-year-old as she flew back into Rome,

Cecilia Sala, 29, was detained last month while on a reporting trip. She had been held for 20 days and told her family that she was kept in isolation.

The arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala in Iran on December 19 was not in retaliation for the detention three days earlier in Milan of Iranian citizen Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi under a US warrant,

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.

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

Sala’s arrest in Tehran last month had sparked fears of a lengthy hostage crisis. Italy is expected to free Iranian businessman, wanted by the U.S., as part of a deal.

Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was released after being detained in Iran for three weeks. Sala's plight became intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer wanted by the U.S.