During early days of the Imam's stay on the outskirts of the French capial Paris, it was clear to us that the ban on political meetings and the issuance of statements and speeches by the Imam would not last more than a few days.
However, very soon after arrival of Imam, Sadegh Qutbzadeh, who had previously acquitance with the editor of the newspaper, Figaro, arranged an interview with the Imam.
The newspaper did not hesitate to publish the interview despite knowing that it could be objected by the Elysee Palace.
Shortly after, famous newspaper Le Monde, which had previously interviewed Imam in the holy city of Najaf, published a detailed statement by Imam
After these two interviews, French TV channel 2 broadcast several interviews live with Imam, and thus Imam's message became universal and was heard across the various parts of the world.
Exrracted from socio-political memoirs of Dr. Sadegh Tabatabai