Italian PM Meloni said to be flying to meet Trump

MILAN: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is flying to Florida where she will meet President-elect Donald Trump, Italian media reported on Saturday.

The meeting, if confirmed, will come at a time when Meloni is facing a foreign policy test following the arrest of Italian reporter Cecilia Sala in Iran on Dec 19 while working under a regular journalistic visa.

Sala was detained three days after Mohammad Abedini, an Iranian businessman, was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport on a US warrant for allegedly supplying drone parts that Washington says were used in a 2023 attack that killed three US service members in Jordan. Iran has denied involvement in the attack.

“We don’t discuss meetings that may or may not have happened, but it’s no surprise world leaders have reached out to President Trump after his historic win to develop better relations with the US,” said Trump’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung.

Meloni’s office did not immediately comment on the media reports, citing unspecified sources, that she plans to meet Trump.

On Friday, Iran’s foreign ministry summoned Italy’s ambassador over Abedini’s detention, Iranian state media reported.

State media reported that an Iranian foreign ministry official had “urged Italy to reject America’s hostage policy – which is contrary to international law, particularly human rights – and provide for Abedini’s release as soon as possible and prevent damage to bilateral ties”.

Abedini is being held in prison and a court is due to decide later this month whether to grant him house arrest while judges consider the US extradition request.

Italian media have reported that Sala is in solitary confinement in a freezing cold cell with a neon light left on night and day, that her glasses have been confiscated and that she has had hardly any contact with the outside world.