WIESBADEN, Germany - President Vladimir Putin insisted on Monday he would make a historic trip to Iran to discuss its nuclear programme, scotching doubts about whether a reported assassination plot would force him to cancel.
"Of course I am going to Iran," Putin told a news conference after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "If you react to various threats and recommendations of the security services, then you should sit at home".
Kremlin officials had earlier said plans for Putin's visit were in doubt after a Russian news agency reported, quoting a single unnamed security source, that plotters were planning to assassinate Putin in Tehran.
Putin's visit to Iran, the first by a Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin went in 1943, has drawn intense interest because of Russia's role as a mediator in six-power talks designed to rein in Iran's nuclear ambitions.
The Kremlin leader said patience and negotiation were the best tools for dealing with Iran and said trying to intimidate Tehran was "hopeless".
"But to demonstrate patience and look for a way out is possible and should be done," Putin said. "If we have a chance to keep up these direct contacts, then we will do it, hoping for a positive, mutually advantageous result."
Merkel took a more hawkish line, saying that the United Nations must impose more sanctions on Iran if it does not comply with U.N. demands over its nuclear programme.
INTELLIGENCE REPORTS
Russia's Interfax news agency had reported on Sunday evening that Putin had been warned by his special services of a possible assassination plot during his visit to Tehran this week.
"A reliable source in one of the Russian special services, has received information from several sources outside Russia, that during the president of Russia's visit to Tehran an assassination attempt is being plotted," Interfax said.
