The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who came to Russia with an official visit upon the invitation of the religious leader of Russian Muslims Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin, attended the Moscow Cathedral Mosque on January 20. He performed the evening prayer and addressed the RMC employees and Muslim audience.

Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin welcomed the Iranian President and noted that his visit coincided with the celebration of the 1100th anniversary of official adoption of Islam by the Volga Bulgaria in Russia and with the declaration of the Year of Cultural Heritage of the Russian Peoples. He also noted that the visit of the Iranian political leader was organized at an exceptionally high level. During the visit the Iranian President met with his Vladimir Putin and also addressed the deputies of the Russian State Duma at its plenary session. This was the first time in the history of Russian parliamentarianism when an Iranian president spoke at the Russian State Duma.

"This visit of our brother in faith, a friend of Russian Muslims, serves as an example for other Muslim leaders. I would like to thank him on behalf of our 25 million Ummah," said Mufti Ravil Gainutdin at the beginning of the meeting.

"It is a great honour for me to visit the Moscow Cathedral Mosque. Mosques are the houses of God on earth, centres of communication with God and at the same time centres of communication between Muslims" said Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, President of Iran, while addressing the audience.

He said that the representatives of Abrahamic religions usually live in harmony and peace side by side. "One of the characteristic features of the Russian Federation is that all Muslims coexist peacefully with the representatives of Christianity and other divine (Abrahamic) religions", he noted

Not only the Moscow religious leaders, but also the members of the Presidium of the Religious Board of Muslims of the Russian Federation and representatives of the regional Religious Boards came to meet the President of Iran at the major mosque of Russia.