Tehran rejects Elon Musk’s role in release of Italian journalist as ‘media fantasy’
The Iranian Foreign Ministry has dismissed US media reports concerning American tech tycoon Elon Musk's role and intervention in the release of an Italian journalist, who had been in the Islamic Republic’s custody over violating the country’s law.
Esmaeil Baghaei, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, rejected on Thursday the report by The New York Times as “prevarication and media fantasy” after the American daily newspaper claimed that the release of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was the result of Musk's contact with Iran's ambassador at the UN.
Citing two Iranian officials, who were allegedly both familiar with the terms of the prisoner exchange, the paper claimed, “Mr. Musk helped secure the release of Ms. Sala by reaching out to Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani.”
The 29-year-old journalist was arrested in the capital Tehran last month over "violating Iran's law."
Sala was released from prison last week and days later an Iranian engineer whom Italy had detained on an American extradition request was also freed.
Abedini Najafabadi, 38, a mechanical engineering graduate from Sharif University of Technology, was detained on December 16 by Italian police at Milan Airport while preparing to travel to Switzerland.
According to Iran’s Judiciary media center, Najafabadi had been arrested in Italy due to a "misunderstanding," which was resolved following diplomatic bids by the Iranian Foreign Ministry and negotiations between relevant intelligence units of the two countries.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said at a news conference last week that Sala’s release was the result of a “complex work of diplomatic triangulation with Iran, and obviously also with the United States of America.”
A senior official of outgoing US President Joe Biden's administration said the American government had not been consulted about the negotiations, had not been given advance word about the releases, and disapproved of the swap deal.
John Kirby, the spokesman for the National Security Council, said that the deal had been “an Italian decision from soup to nuts.”
Musk was one of the tech leaders who had a pivotal role in galvanizing US support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during his campaign rallies ahead of the November election.
Having poured at least a quarter of a billion dollars into boosting Trump’s voter base, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO has increasingly found himself in the president-elect’s orbit and has become a driving force in American politics as well as in the most prominent circles in Republican politics.
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