The historic relations between Russia and Iraq began when the latter was part of the Ottoman Empire. The Russian imperial government still showed wide interest in the region. Since the 19th century, a Russian consulate was functioning in Baghdad, due to the Shia Muslims' pilgrimage to the holy cities of Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf. After the Russian Empire annexed the North Caucasus and Central Asia this further increased due to the large Shia populations native to those regions. According to the Russian consul in Baghdad on 19 November 1890, 19,500 pilgrims from the North Caucasus and Central Asia visited the holy shrines in Iraq.[4] However, after the end of the Ottoman rule in the region, the diplomatic mission was ended.
Soviet Union re-established diplomatic ties with newly independent Iraq on 9 September 1944. In 1955, relations were disrupted by the Iraqi side. In July 1958, both countries resumed diplomatic relations.
Timeline of the diplomatic relations
25 August - 9 September 1944 - diplomatic relations were established at the mission level.
3 January - 8 January 1955 - diplomatic relations were interrupted by the Iraqi government.
18 July 1958 - an agreement was reached on the resumption of diplomatic relations at the embassy level.
List of representatives (1944 – present)
Representatives of the Soviet Union to the Kingdom of Iraq (1944 - 1958)
^Litvinov VP State regulation of pilgrimage of Shiite Muslims of Turkestan (late XIX - early XX centuries) // Bulletin of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University. - 2014. - T. 14. - No. 3. - S. 38 - 39.
