An Italian journalist detained in Iran for three weeks and whose fate became intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States was freed Wednesday and is heading home, Italian officials announced.

Italian journalist Cecilia Sala has arrived back in the country’s capital after being freed from an Iranian prison where she had spent weeks in detention.

ROME—Iran released Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, whose arrest in Tehran last month had sparked fears of a lengthy hostage crisis—a win for Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that however highlights Western countries’ vulnerability to blackmail by authoritarian regimes.