Moscow, (RIA Novosti) Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Iran this week despite warning by his secret service of a possible plot to assassinate him, the Kremlin press service said Monday.
Putin is visiting Iran to meet his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and to attend Tuesday’s summit of the Caspian Sea nations.
No leader of the erstwhile Soviet Union or Russia has visited Iran since 1943, when Joseph Stalin met British prime minister Winston Churchill and US president Franklin D. Roosevelt in Tehran for a wartime conference.
The press service did not comment on the alleged assassination plot, and said preparations were continuing for Putin to take part in the Caspian summit.
Iran’s foreign ministry said Sunday the allegations were baseless, and called them part of a psychological war waged by Tehran’s enemies.
It is not the first time the media has circulated reports of assassination attempts against the Russian leader.
In October 2001, Azerbaijan’s law enforcement agencies said they had thwarted an assassination plot against Putin during his official visit to Baku. They said the would-be killer was an Iraqi national with links to Chechen militants.
In June 2007, foreign media reported a possible attempt on Putin’s life during his visit to Turkey to attend the Black Sea Economic Cooperation summit.
Putin’s upcoming trip to Iran will test Russia’s ability to wield international political influence amid the ongoing controversy surrounding Iran’s nuclear programme.
The programme is seen by some Western countries as a scheme to develop nuclear weapons, despite Iranian statements to the contrary.
Putin stressed during a recent meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Robert Gates that in the course of his visit to Iran he would continue the current line of work with the Iranian leadership, which reflects the collective position of the six nations and the UN Security Council – involved in talks to persuade Iran to drop uranium enrichment.
The six nations include China, the US, Russia, Britain, France and Germany.
The US and France have urged tougher penalties against Iran but Russia said it was against unilateral sanctions against Tehran and wanted the Iranian issue to be resolved through collective efforts and political dialogue.