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.
Farnaz FassihiEmma Bubola and Edward Wong
When an Italian journalist was arrested in Iran in December, her boyfriend back home feared she might linger in prison for years. So, amid talk that Iran and Italy were negotiating a prisoner swap that involved the United States, he says, he decided to try to get a message to someone who might be in a position to help.
His name was Elon Musk.
Not only was Mr. Musk close to President-elect Donald J. Trump, a month before the journalist was detained, the tech billionaire had a secret meeting with the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations.
Last week, the journalist, Cecilia Sala, 29, was released from prison in Iran, and days later an Iranian engineer whom Italy had detained on an American extradition request was also freed. The engineer was accused of providing material for drones used in an Iranian-backed militia attack on a U.S. military base that killed three American servicemen.
Mr. Musk helped secure the release of Ms. Sala by reaching out to Iran’s ambassador to the U.N., Amir Saeid Iravani, according to two Iranian officials, one a senior diplomat at the Foreign Ministry, who are both familiar with the terms of the prisoner exchange. They asked that their names not be published because they were discussing a sensitive issue.
Neither Mr. Musk nor representatives of the Trump transition responded to repeated requests for comment.
How Mr. Musk, an increasingly active if uncredentialed player on the world stage since the Trump victory, came to take up the journalist’s cause remains unclear. He is close with Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, who traveled to Mar-a-Lago, the Trump estate in Florida where Mr. Musk has been a regular, and met with the president-elect on Jan 4.
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