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Viviana Mazza
It is not clear whether Elon Musk also played a role in the negotiation: Sala’s mother thanked him through spokesperson Andrea Stroppa
FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
NEW YORK – “It was a totally Italian decision, from start to finish,” John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, told the Courier during a briefing when we asked if the Biden administration had been informed, whether it has given Italy the green light to negotiate or avoid the extradition of Mohammad Abedini and whether it will be repaid with advantages for its national security. He declined to say more, but made two points: Iran «continues to unjustly detain many citizens of other countriesoften to use them as political leverage” when “he should release them immediately; «Journalists must be protected».
The agreement for the release of Cecilia Sala provides that Italy releases “the drone man” Mohammed Abedini rather than extraditing him as requested by the Biden administration.
The path that Meloni followed was the one suggested by a US official with expertise on hostages in an interview with Corriere a few days after Sala’s arrest: “make an agreement before the extradition is honored” and defend the decision by explaining to the US that it is “acting in the name of the national interest”.
But it was necessary to avoid irritating the United Statesstraddling two rival administrations. According to government and intelligence sources cited by the Post and confirmed to the Courier, in addition to meeting Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Meloni and Italian intelligence communicated «with the staff of outgoing President Joe Biden» and «Meloni got a sort of green light to negotiate from both Biden and Trump».
The Americans know the problem well: their citizens are arrested and used as political pawns by Iran, Russia, China, Venezuela, and they also want to involve Italy in a multinational coalition that creates real measures of deterrence and punishment to avoid let it happen again.
It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that yesterday, after Sala’s release, the US State Department announced the attempt to form a coalition as part of a «Strategy for the management of wrongfully detained prisoners».
As for Meloni’s visit to Mar-a-Lago, it also served to obtain from Trump “a commitment not to argue with Biden over the Sala-Abedini affair”, writes the Post. In some respects, operating during the transition was not a bad thing. The head of the FBI Christopher Wray has resigned, the head of the FBI in Rome was on holiday. An agreement would have been more difficult after January 20th. George Lombardi, an entrepreneur friend of the future Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who saw Meloni at Mar-a-Lago, explains that «for Trump it was better for the Biden administration to officially allow the release of the Iranian prisoner, in order to have hands free regarding Iran and Hamas if they do not release the prisoners in Gaza.”
On the other hand, it was not convenient for the Iranian government to alienate the leader of a country that is not particularly hostile to him and which enjoys the best relations with the new US president. Lawyer Alan Dershowitz, also at Mar-a-Lago that evening, believes that that meeting covered by all the media had “a positive impact on Iran’s decision to release the journalist.” «The message is simple: you can’t touch the US president’s best friend», Ambassador Paolo Zampolli tells us. At a press conference on Tuesday, Trump said Meloni “showed him great respect,” before repeating that “all hell will break loose” if the hostages in Gaza are not freed. «Trump has the power to do things indirectly, through implicit threats; when he said that the Israeli hostages must be released, I think he was suggesting that it would be good for Iran if it also released the Italian hostage,” according to Dershowitz.
Sala’s mother also thanked Elon Musk through spokesperson Andrea Stroppawrites the Post, attributing a role to him in the events. It’s not clear which one, but certainly there has been an acceleration in SpaceX’s contract with Italy. Furthermore, in November Musk met with the Iranian ambassador to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani who is pushing for a possible “change of tone” in relations with Trump and would have asked the billionaire to obtain exemptions from sanctions from the US Treasury and bring his business to Iran . Andrea Stroppa, Musk’s contact in Italy, tweeted a photo (generated with AI) yesterday evening of Musk eating spaghetti, to “celebrate” Sala’s release.
January 8, 2025 (changed January 9, 2025 | 10:10)
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