Written by Angelo Amanti and Emilio Parodi
ROME (Reuters) – Iranian businessman Mohammad Abedini, who was being held in Italy under a U.S. arrest warrant, left prison on Sunday and returned to Iran after Romania's justice minister filed a request to cancel his detention.
Abedini was arrested in Milan last month on charges of supplying drone parts that Washington says were used in the 2024 attack that killed three US service members in Jordan. Iran denied involvement in the attack.
Italian media linked his case to the detention of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, who was detained in Tehran three days after Abedini's arrest. She returned home on Wednesday. Iran has denied allegations that it imprisoned her to pressure Rome to release Abedini.
“Mohammad Abedini was arrested due to a misunderstanding that was resolved through… the efforts of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and negotiations between the relevant departments of the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Italian intelligence services,” Iran's Mizan News Agency reported. Judiciary.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei and the Iranian judiciary's Mizan News Agency confirmed that Abedini arrived in Iran on Sunday.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that he was released on Sunday morning after Justice Minister Carlo Nordio submitted his request to the Milan Court of Appeal. Under Italian law, the courts must comply with the request.
“Now my client is a free person and can smile and hope again,” Abedini's lawyer, Alfredo De Francisco, said in a statement.
The Italian Ministry of Justice said in a statement that the legal conditions are not available to extradite Abedini, because this can only be done in crimes punishable in Italy and the United States.
The statement said violations of the US International Emergency Economic Powers Act were inconsistent with conduct considered a crime under Italian law. She added that there was no evidence to support the other charges of supporting a terrorist organization.
In an interview published Thursday, Nordeau said the United States had not yet submitted a formal request for Abedini's extradition.
