An official proposal was presented to sign a “twinning” agreement between the city of Basra and the Russian city of Kazan, with the aim of enhancing joint cooperation and attracting investments between the two parties.

This came during the participation of a high-ranking Iraqi delegation led by former Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi in the 17th International Economic Forum (Russia - Islamic World) held in the city of Kazan in 2026, whose discussions focused on formulating “practical business models” to transform theoretical agreements into development projects that serve the people.

The head of the Russian House in Iraq, Alq Al-Barghash, officially presented the proposal to the Mayor of Kazan, Elsur Mitshin, including sending an invitation to the Governor of Basra to visit Russia, with the aim of directly discussing mechanisms for activating this twinning and transforming the understandings into a tangible investment reality on the ground.

Al-Barghash pointed out that this move depends on “municipal and popular diplomacy,” based on the presence of a solid mass base that supports this trend, represented by more than 200,000 Iraqi graduates from Russian and Soviet universities (including leaders, decision-makers, and current members of Parliament), stressing that there is a great passion in the Iraqi street to build bridges of cognitive and economic communication with Moscow.