The United States has asked Italy to arrest and extradite an Iranian national on suspicion of transferring drone technology.
Iran, Tehran – Iran’s Foreign Ministry and Judiciary confirmed that Iranian national Mohammad Abedini, who had been arrested in Italy at the request of the United States, has been released.
Abedini was extradited to Tehran after his arrest as part of a “misunderstanding,” the judiciary’s official media outlet Mizan said on Sunday.
The report, broadcast on state television, said his release was secured following talks between Iranian and Italian intelligence services.
In a brief statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghei welcomed the release of an Iranian national accused by Washington of killing three American soldiers in a January 2024 drone attack on a US outpost in Jordan. He emphasized that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will defend the rights of Iranian citizens abroad.
Abedini was arrested on a U.S. warrant on December 16 after being indicted along with other Iranians on charges of supplying Iran with drone technology used at U.S. military bases.
He was scheduled to appear in a Milan court on Wednesday in connection with his application for house arrest pending extradition proceedings to the United States. However, the Italian Ministry of Justice asked the appeals court to cancel his arrest, saying it “does not amount to any conduct recognized as a crime under Italian law.”
Three days after Abedini’s arrest, Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was detained in Tehran while traveling on an ordinary journalist visa and charged with ‘violating the laws of the Islamic Republic’.
The writer and podcaster was released from solitary confinement in the Iranian capital’s Evin prison last week and returned home, where she was greeted by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
A few days ago, Meloni made a surprise visit to his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, USA, met US President-elect Donald Trump and described him as a “fantastic woman.”
Tehran dismissed any Western speculation that the journalist’s arrest was linked to Abedini’s detention in Rome under US orders. Iranian authorities have been accused for decades of using some prisoners as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West.
A Swiss national arrested on spying charges died Thursday in a prison in Iran’s Semnan province.
Last month, an Iranian court sentenced an Iranian-American journalist to 10 years in prison for “collaborating with the hostile U.S. government.”
Iran has also accused the West, especially the United States, of targeting its citizens under unilateral U.S. sanctions and blacklists. Many of these sanctions were imposed after then-President Trump tore up Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018.
Tensions remain high
Abedini’s release on Sunday comes as Iran and the region continue to remain on high alert amid the growing fallout from Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, with just days left until Trump is elected president for a second time.
Iran’s Supreme Commander and the Iranian military, part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), have warned the United States and Israel this week of attacks on Iran’s nuclear or energy infrastructure.
Last Sunday, Iranian forces completed a large-scale military exercise to practice layered defense of the Fordow and Kondab nuclear facilities using multiple missile defense and radar systems.
As part of exercises that began last week and will continue for several weeks, the IRGC simulated the defense of the country’s main nuclear facility in Natanz against an attack using fighter jets, missiles and bunker buster bombs.
Iran’s military unveiled another “missile city” this week, showing off hundreds of ballistic missiles that commanders said were ready to launch against Israeli and American bases in the region if Iran were attacked.
Iran also mobilized 110,000 troops to protest in Tehran this week in a show of force that comes after Iran lost a major part of the regional resistance axis in Syria to the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.
Iran’s nuclear program could also take a different path, and the Trump administration’s position is expected to determine the balance of relations in 2025 as the West continues to accuse Tehran of arming Russia in its war with Ukraine.
