A meeting between Ildar Galeyev  (head of the International Department of the Russia Muftis Council and the Religious Board of Muslims of the Russian Federation) and Mr. Ali Murtad Sayyid Al Bayati (first secretary of the Embassy of Iraq) was held in the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in Moscow on the occasion of the completion of Mr. Al Bayati’s diplomatic mission.

The meeting was attended by Dr. Salem Zalam, leading expert of the international department. During the meeting, Ildar Galeyev conveyed the greetings from Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin and thanked Mr. Ali for his contribution to the development of bilateral Russian-Iraqi relations in the religious sphere.

At the end of the meeting, the parties agreed to maintain friendly and business relationships even after Mr. Al-Bayati returns to Iraq. The Iraqi diplomat was also given a letter of gratitude from the religious leader of Russian Muslims, Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin, for the development of spiritual ties between the two countries.

It should be noted that during the recent years the official religious institutions of these two countries – the Authority for Sunni and Shiite Waqf Affairs of Iraq and the Russia Muftis Council – started communicating more actively. In June 2018 the representatives of the Russia Muftis Council - the mufti of Karelia Abdul-Aziz Dyatko and the imam-hatyb of the Noginsk cathedral mosque of the Moscow region Abdurrauf  Faizov - participated in the international conference called "Median and moderation", which took place in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq.

Ilham Bibarsov, Chairman of the Religious Boarda of Muslims of Perm Region, Niyaz Kashapov, chairman of the Religious Board of Muslims of the Kirov region, took part in the international cultural festival “Rabiu Shahada" in Karbala this April.

Every year Iraqi experts in Qur’anic studies and representatives of the Iraq Centre for Qur’anic studies take part in the Moscow International Qur’an Reciting Competition.

Iraqi scholars participate in the events organized by the Russia Muftis Council and the Religious Board of Muslims of the Russian Federation on a regular basis.