Kremlin says Putin told of plan to kill him

By James Kilner and Douglas Busvine

MOSCOW/WIESBADEN, Germany (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin has been warned by his special services of a possible plot to assassinate him during a visit to Tehran this week, according to the Kremlin.

Putin, arriving in Germany on Sunday night for talks likely to cover tensions over Iran's nuclear program, waved a hand dismissively when asked about an initial report of a plot on Russia's Interfax news agency and told reporters "later".

The President was due to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday morning and hold a news conference at around 1100 GMT.

Iran dismissed as baseless the Interfax report that suicide bombers were preparing an attack on the President. It described the allegation as "psychological warfare" calculated by Tehran's enemies -- an apparent reference to Western powers -- to undermine Russian-Iranian relations.

Kremlin deputy spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters he was unaware of any plans to cancel Putin's visit.

Asked to comment on the Interfax report, Peskov said by telephone from Tehran: "The information is being dealt with by the secret services...The president has been informed."

Interfax reported on Sunday that security services had been told suicide bombers and kidnappers were training to kill or capture Putin on his visit, due to start on Tuesday. It did not say who might be behind such groups in the Islamic Republic.

The trip to Tehran will be watched closely by Western capitals pushing Moscow for a harder line reining in an Iranian nuclear program they fear masks a drive for an atomic bomb. Iran denies nuclear arms ambitions and is building a nuclear reactor with Russian help.