ROME — Italy on Sunday launched an Iranian citizen needed by the U.S. over a drone assault in Jordan that killed three Americans a 12 months in the past, after the Italian justice minister requested a court docket to revoke his arrest.
Mohammad Abedini has already returned to Iran, Iranian state TV stated on Sunday afternoon.
He was scheduled to look at a Milan court docket on Wednesday in connection along with his bid for home arrest pending extradition to the U.S.
Abedini was arrested on a U.S. warrant on Dec. 16, three days earlier than Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was detained whereas on a reporting journey to Iran. Sala, who was believed held as a bargaining chip for Abedini’s launch, returned residence final week.
The U.S. Justice Department has accused Abedini of supplying the drone expertise to Iran that was utilized in a January 2024 assault on a U.S. outpost in Jordan that killed three American troops.
An official word on the case launched by the Italian Justice Ministry on Sunday stated that beneath Italy-U.S. extradition treaties, “solely crimes which can be punishable in response to the legal guidelines of either side can result in extradition, a situation which, primarily based on the state of paperwork, can’t be thought of as current.”
The ministry stated that the potential cost towards Abedini — legal affiliation for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a U.S. federal regulation — “didn’t correspond to any conduct acknowledged by Italian regulation as a criminal offense.”
Iranian state TV stated the discharge and return of Abedini got here after Iran’s international ministry pursued the case, in addition to “talks” between Iran’s intelligence ministry and the Italian intelligence service.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni described a “diplomatic triangulation” with Iran and the United States as being key to securing Sala’s launch, confirming for the primary time that Washington’s pursuits entered into the negotiations.
Sala’s launch got here after Meloni made a shock journey to Florida to satisfy U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago property.
