On December 9, 1996, after a three year mission, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the Iranian Resistance, left France for Iraq.
Following the announcement of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi as the Iranian Resistance’s President-elect by the National Council of Resistance of Iran in 1993, in order to express the view of the Iranian Resistance and expand the Iranian National Solidarity Front, it was decided that she go to France.
Maryam Rajavi’s presence in France was welcomed by Iranians abroad on one hand and caused hysterical reactions by the mullahs ruling Iran on the other hand. This included throwing grenades in front of the French Embassy and Air France office. The mullahs mobilized all their Basijis to petition and question Mrs. Rajavi’s presence in France. But, through revelations made by the Iranian Resistance, the clerical regime’s measures gave opposite results and more than ever introduced Maryam Rajavi as the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance in the eyes of the world. Mrs. Rajavi’s 1993 to 1996 presence in France was among the Resistance’s most successful years regarding activities abroad in the path of achieving the Iranian people’s freedom.