MILAN (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will fly 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 December 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 the 2023 attack. which killed three US service members in Jordan. Iran has denied involvement in the attack.

“We don’t talk about meetings that may or may not happen, but it’s no surprise that world leaders are reaching out to President Trump after his historic victory to promote better relations with the United States,” said Trump’s spokesman, Steven Cheung.

Meloni’s office did not immediately comment on media reports, citing unspecified sources, that he planned to meet with Trump.

On Friday, Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the Italian ambassador over Abedini’s imprisonment, Iranian state media reported.

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

Abedini is being held in jail and a court is set to decide later this month whether to place him under house arrest while judges consider an extradition request to the US.

Italian media reported that Sala was in solitary confinement in a freezing cold cell with neon lights on day and night, that his glasses had been confiscated and that he had no contact. in the outside world.