Tesla and SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk, reportedly intervened to “help secure the release” of Cecilia Sala from Iran by “contacting” Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani. This was reported by The New York Times, citing two anonymous Iranian officials.
According to the American newspaper, the billionaire was contacted by Cecilia Sala’s partner, Daniele Raineri, “through an intermediary” just before the surprise and swift visit of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to Mar-a-Lago, Florida, to meet with US President-elect Donald Trump.
In an interview, Raineri explained to The New York Times that he decided to reach out to Musk after reading about a “channel between him and Iranian diplomats.” Given Musk’s connection with Donald Trump, who had appointed him to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, Raineri felt it was a potential avenue to explore.
The intermediary mentioned in the article is informatics expert Andrea Stroppa, described by the newspaper as a “collaborator” of Musk. Raineri had asked Stroppa to bring Cecilia Sala’s case to the billionaire’s attention.
When asked by the newspaper, Stroppa confirmed that Musk had “noted” the request but emphasized that he was unaware of Musk’s alleged involvement in this case.
The CEO of Tesla had already met with the Iranian ambassador to the UN in November, weeks before the arrest of the Italian journalist, at her residence in New York, to discuss tensions between Tehran and Washington.
The two officials who spoke with The New York Times also clarified that Musk would have contacted the ambassador “immediately after” Meloni’s visit to Florida.
