The Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities, and the spokesman for the Iraqi government, Hassan Nazim, said that nine countries will participate in the Baghdad Summit, which will start next Saturday.

The minister said, in a statement to "Al-Sabah" newspaper, published on Thursday, that nine countries will participate in the "Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership", which are Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, the UAE and France, in addition to representatives from the European Union and the United Nations.

He stated that Iraq seeks, through this conference, to restore its effective and influential regional role.

He said that "restoring this role does not mean that Iraq has a desire to play roles, as far as ensuring its security and economic stability, meaning that the plans of this government stem from the country's interest in its security and economic files."

He stressed that "there is a vigorous work to build bridges of communication, aimed at restoring Iraq's role in a manner that secures its stability and economic prosperity."

He added that "the issue of tensions in some countries of the region will also be present for discussion at the summit."

The streets of Baghdad were decorated with the flags of the participating countries, while the Joint Operations Command announced the completion of its security plans, the deployment of security cordons in the streets of the conference, and the protection of vital targets.