On May 28, 2026, at the Patriarchal Residence in the Danilov Monastery, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Iraq to the Russian Federation Abdul-Karim Hashim Mustafa.
On behalf of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations, Archpriest Igor Vyzhanov, Deputy Chairman of the DECR, took part in the meeting.
Welcoming the diplomat, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill noted that the Russian Orthodox Church has historically had very good relations with the Islamic world: "There is a large Islamic community in Russia, and throughout history there have never been conflicts between Orthodox and Muslims in our country. These good relations have been tested by time and the very difficult historical events that took place in our country. First of all, I am referring to the Second World War, when Orthodox and Muslim citizens of Russia fought together against fascism."
At the same time, the Russian Orthodox Church has established good relations with Muslims in many countries, but first of all it is the Middle East, Egypt and a number of countries of the so-called third world, His Holiness emphasized.
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill wished Mr. Ambassador a successful stay in Russia, which would contribute to the development of further good relations between the two countries: "The absolute majority of our people are sympathetic and friendly towards representatives of Islam. Welcome!"
In turn, Ambassador Abdul-Karim Hashim Mustafa welcomed the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church and thanked him for the opportunity to meet.
Relations between Russia and Iraq have been going on for several decades, the diplomat noted: "Iraq was one of the first Islamic countries to establish relations with the Soviet Union, it happened in 1944. In 1958, the monarchy was abolished in Iraq and a republican regime was established. In 1971, Saddam Hussein signed the first treaty of strategic friendship between our countries with the USSR. In the early 2000s, certain difficulties arose when a number of Russian companies left Iraq due to sanctions imposed by the United States. Now the situation has changed a bit, we continue to maintain economic relations, and everything is going well in the political sphere."
In addition, Russia and Iraq are united by the fact that both nations are representatives of monotheistic religions, Mr. Mustafa noted. According to him, today in Iraq, in addition to a large Islamic community, there is a large Christian community. He expressed the hope that someday all three Abrahamic religions will be present in Iraq.
Mr. Ambassador also noted that he had already worked in Moscow from 2004 to 2007: "When I found out that I would be coming to Moscow again, I felt as if I were returning home. I have a big mission here. I was hoping to meet you, Your Holiness, and that was one of my first desires."
"My task here, among other things, is to promote the development of the community of the Assyrian Church of the East, which includes both Russians and people from Iraq. Many of them moved here a century ago due to persecution in the Ottoman Empire. Fortunately, the Church now has a building built in the Babylonian-Assyrian style," Abdul-Karim Hashim Mustafa added.