They denied it, but it was true. The Italian Minister of Justice, Carlo Nordio, who had just this week dismissed the news, ultimately asked on Sunday for the cancellation of the detention of Iranian engineer Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi, imprisoned in Italy under an international arrest warrant issued by the United States. The Italian justice system publicly announced the decision, leading to Abedini’s immediate release as he moved on toward Iran.
In effect, four days later, Abedini began the same journey as Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, but in the opposite direction. Sala, who had been imprisoned in Iran, was released by Iran in January, suggesting that this development also closes another chapter of what some call hostage diplomacy. The possibility that Iran had captured the young journalist had been considered, despite denials from both Iran and Italy, as a strategy to press for Abedini’s freedom, while Washington had already filed an extradition request.
Legal Basis
The reason for this course is that the United States’ accusations against the Iranian engineer were grave on the surface. Washington claimed that Abedini had contributed to drone production that was used in an attack killing three American soldiers in Jordan. Yet the fact that he had not committed any offense in Italy and the absence of a reciprocal principle between Italian and American law for extraditions led Rome to opt for release, according to Italian authorities.
“The first alleged crime attributed to the Iranian citizen, conspiracy to violate the IEEPA, has no reciprocal counterpart in the Italian penal code,” the authorities stated. “As for the second and third offenses, respectively conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization resulting in death and the provision or attempted provision of material support to a foreign terrorist organization with fatal consequences, no elements have been presented to substantiate the charges. Instead, there is evidence that Abedini, through companies linked to him, engaged in production and trade of instruments with potential military applications, though not exclusive.”
With this framing, Italian officials explained that the case did not rest on proven Italian crimes, but on broader concerns that did not meet the legal standards for reciprocity in extradition. The authorities underscored that the available documentation did not justify guilt under Italian law in the absence of concrete, legally actionable elements within the Italian penal system.
Express Release
On this basis, Rome moved to an express release. The justice minister decided, without waiting for a formal Milanese court verdict, to order the Iranian’s immediate freedom. Teheran welcomed the move, a Tehran foreign ministry spokesperson said, signaling a brief but meaningful moment of diplomatic accord in a highly delicate case.
The Italian decision arrives amid high-level interactions between Rome and Washington. In the same week, the Italian prime minister had met with the United States president and spoke by phone with the outgoing leader, a sequence of events that many observers interpret as a broader attempt to reassure a long-standing ally while managing a difficult international dispute. Whether these discussions translated into a tangible shift in policy remains a subject of debate among analysts and observers.