Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted today he would make a historic trip to Iran to discuss its nuclear programme, despite a reported assassination plot.
"Of course I am going to Iran," Mr 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".
Russian special services confirmed today they had received intelligence about a plot against Mr Putin, Russian news agencies reported. Kremlin officials had earlier said plans for Mr Putin's visit were in doubt.
Mr 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...," Mr 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."
Ms Merkel took a more hawkish line, saying that the United Nations must impose more sanctions on Iran if it does not comply with UN demands over its nuclear programme.
Iran dismissed the reports of an assassination plot as baseless, saying it was "psychological warfare" calculated by Tehran's enemies - an apparent reference to Western powers - to undermine Russian-Iranian relations.
In a historical coincidence, reports of an assassination plot also hung over Stalin's 1943 visit to Tehran for a wartime conference with allies Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt.