CNN
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Iranian businessman Mohammad Abedini, who was detained in Italy following the drone attack that killed three Americans, has been released at the request of the United States.
Abedini, 38, was arrested in Milan in December on a U.S.-issued warrant in connection with a drone strike that killed three U.S. soldiers and injured dozens in Jordan last year.
The US Department of Justice has charged Abedini and Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, 42, with conspiring to export drone technology from the US to Iran.
Italy’s Justice Minister Carlo Nordio on Sunday asked the Court of Appeal in Milan to annul Abedini’s arrest, saying Italy could not extradite him to the United States, adding: “This is a crime punishable under the laws of both countries. “only” may be subject to extradition.
Abedini’s lawyer, Alfredo de Francesco, told CNN that Nordio’s decision “pleasantly surprised us” and that Abedini had maintained from the beginning that there were no conditions for extradition.
“Now my client is a free man and will be able to smile and hope again,” De Francesco said.
Iran’s judicial body Mizan News Agency said Abedini’s arrest was the result of a “misunderstanding” and that Iranian ministries had resolved it.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Abedini had returned to the country after being released early Sunday.
Mr Abedini was arrested on December 16, three days earlier when Cecilia Sala, a reporter for the Italian daily newspaper Il Folio, was detained during a reporting trip to Tehran “in violation of the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran”. was indicted on the charges.
Sarah was released last week and returned home, sparking speculation that she was used as a bargaining chip for Abedini’s release.
Sala’s release came shortly after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was scheduled to visit US President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida, mansion, where he was scheduled to discuss Sala’s case.
Italy’s Justice Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that the charges against Abedini of a criminal association in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act “do not constitute a case defined and punished by the Italian criminal system.”
The U.S. Justice Department accused Abedini of involvement in a January 2024 drone attack on a small U.S. outpost in Jordan, the first in the Middle East since the start of Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza. It was the first time that a U.S. soldier was killed by enemy fire. Three U.S. Army soldiers were killed and more than 30 military personnel were injured.