MILAN (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is heading to Florida, where she will meet with President-elect Donald Trump, Italian media reported on Saturday.
The meeting, if confirmed, would come at a time when Meloni faces a foreign policy test after Italian reporter Cecilia Sala was arrested in Iran on December 19 while working under a regular journalist visa.
Sala was arrested three days after Iranian businessman Mohammad Abedini was arrested at Milan's Malpensa Airport on a US warrant for allegedly supplying parts for drones that Washington says were used in the 2023 attack that killed three US service members in Jordan. Iran denied involvement in the attack.
“We do not discuss meetings that may or may not have occurred, but it is not surprising that world leaders reached out to President Trump after his historic victory to develop better relations with the United States,” Trump spokesman Stephen Cheung said.
Meloni's office did not immediately comment on media reports, citing unspecified sources, that she was planning to meet with Trump.
Iranian official media reported that the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Italian ambassador on Friday due to Abedini's detention.
An Iranian Foreign Ministry official “urged Italy to reject the US hostage policy — which contravenes international law, especially human rights — and work to release Mr. Abedini as soon as possible and prevent damage to bilateral relations,” state media reported.
Abedini is being held in prison and the court is scheduled to decide later this month whether to grant him house arrest while judges consider his American extradition request.
Italian media reported that Sala was in solitary confinement in a freezing cell with neon lights on day and night, her glasses confiscated, and she had almost no contact with the outside world.
