When an Italian journalist was arrested in Iran in December, his girlfriend back home feared he could spend years in prison. So, while talking about Iran and Italy negotiating a prisoner exchange involving the United States, he decided to get a message to someone who might be able to help.
His name was Elon Musk.
Mr. Musk was not only close to President-elect Donald Trump, the tech billionaire a month before the journalist was detained secret meeting with Iran's ambassador to the UN.
Last week it was 29-year-old journalist Cecilia Sala was released from prison In Iran and a few days later, an Iranian engineer detained by Italy at the request of American extradition was also released. The engineer was accused of supplying drones used in an attack on a US military base by Iranian-backed militias that killed three US servicemen.
Mr. Musk helped Ms. Sala to be released by contacting Iran's ambassador to the UN, Amir Said Iravani. exchange. They asked not to be named because they are discussing a sensitive issue.
Neither Mr. Musk nor Trump's transition representatives responded to repeated requests for comment.
It remains unclear how Mr. Musk, an increasingly active player on the world stage since Trump's victory and without credentials, has surpassed the journalist's job. He is close to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Traveled to Mar-a-Lagoat the Trump mansion in Florida, where Mr. Musk regularly works, and met with the president-elect on January 4.
Ms. Meloni said this at her press conference last week Ms. Sala's release It was the result of “complicated diplomatic triangulation with Iran and obviously with the United States of America.” His office and the Italian Foreign Ministry declined to comment for this article.
A senior Biden administration official said the American government was not consulted about the negotiations, that disclosures were not promised in advance and that he did not approve of the deal. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the deal was “a soup-to-nuts Italian decision.”
At the press conference, Ms. Meloni said she did not know whether any of Mr. Musk played any role in Ms. Sala's release. “If he had a role, I'm not aware of it,” he said.
The uncertainty underscores the unusual role Mr. Musk plays sitting next to Mr. Trump. It supports far-right parties in Europe even as he continued to promote his business interests abroad. Italy, for example, is currently exploring a potential deal with Mr. Musk's Space X to provide secure communications for government and military officials via Starlink. And Ms. Meloni has been one of Mr. Musk's ever-present European allies, hosting his party's 2023 conference and attending a gala with him last October.
Ms Sala's boyfriend, Daniele Raineri, had already sought Mr Musk's help through an intermediary when Ms Meloni visited Mar-a-Lago, he said. In the interview, Mr. Raineri said he thought of him because he had read that “there is a channel between Musk and Iranian diplomats, and that Musk is also in close contact with Trump.”
Mr. Raineri, himself a journalist, said he texted the Italian computer expert and an associate of Mr. Musk on December 29 to bring Ms. Sala's case to the billionaire's attention and ask if he could ask for help.
Andrea Stroppa, a computer expert, said in an interview that Mr. Musk accepted the request but did not know if he was involved.
In November, weeks before Ms. Sala was arrested, Mr. Musk met with Iran's ambassador for more than an hour at his residence in Manhattan to discuss de-escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington as a new administration prepares to take power.
Iranian officials interviewed for this article said Mr. Musk contacted the ambassador again shortly after Prime Minister Meloni visited Mar-a-Lago.
The exchange of prisoners between Iran and Italy then developed rapidly. Iran released Mrs. Sala on January 8, and Italy was released 4 days later released the Iranian engineerMohammad Abedini Najafabadi.
Mr. Abedini was detained at the request of the US Department of Justice. A federal court in Massachusetts charged him with buying drone technology used for Iran attack In January 2024 at an American base in Jordan. Two Iranian officials said that Mr. Musk asked Iran to release Ms. Sala when he spoke with the ambassador and assured him that the United States would not pressure Italy to extradite him. Iranian engineer.
Iran's UN mission declined to comment on the latest engagement between Mr. Musk and the ambassador. The statement said that the two prisoners were released “as a result of the bilateral cooperation and coordinated efforts of the political and intelligence sectors of Iran and Italy.”
All sides have been tight-lipped about what happened publicly, but to many observers the quick release of the prisoners after the meeting between Mr. Trump and Ms. Maloney suggested that the matter had been discussed and a resolution reached.
Ferdinando Nelli Ferozzi, a former Italian diplomat, said: “The most likely realignment is that he got a signal from the Trump administration that if he frees Abedi, it won't cause big problems.”
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Italy detained Mr. Abedi in mid-December while transiting through Milan's airport. Three days later, agents of the intelligence wing of the Revolutionary Guard Corps raided Ms. Sala's hotel room in Tehran and threw her into solitary confinement at Evin prison. He went to Iran with a journalist visa.
A member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and two Iranian officials said the journalist was arrested to pressure Italy to release Mr. Abedi. Iran did detention of foreign and dual nationals has been a central part of foreign policy for nearly five decades.
“It doesn't matter who you are,” Sahin Modarres, a Roman expert on Iran and international security, said in a telephone interview. “You can be a journalist, diplomat, tourist.” “The main thing is that Iran thinks that it can use you as a leverage,” he said.
Mrs. Sala said in her interview that she was kept in a cell without a mattress and slept on one blanket and the other below. He was denied glasses for weeks and was unable to see a human face during his imprisonment. He said he heard other inmates crying and vomiting and was interrogated for hours with his eyes closed almost every day.
What he feared most was “I'll go crazy.”
Her boyfriend, Mr Raineri, said that on January 2, Ms Meloni told Ms Sala's mother that there would be an important development in the next 48 hours.
Mr. Stroppa, a programmer, gave instructions in his account on X. He posted a description Mr. Trump, Ms. Meloni and Mr. Musk in ancient Roman attire on the day the Prime Minister visited Mar-a-Lago. And on the day Ms. Sala was released, she posted the AI-generated material a picture of Mr. Musk eating spaghetti With Italian flag emoji.
Ms Sala said she understood what the Italian government had to do to free him. “And they talked to whoever they needed to talk to,” he said.
Ryan Mack and Mattathias Schwartz contributed to the report.