Russian President Vladimir Putin has been told of a plot to assassinate him during a visit to Iran this week, a Kremlin spokeswoman said Sunday.
The specter of a hypothetical US military strike on Iran is emerging as a dominant foreign policy theme in a 2008 White House race already haunted by the war in Iraq.
President George W. Bush must seek congressional approval before taking any military action in Iran, unless Tehran attacks the United States first, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday.
When President Vladimir Putin visits Tehran this week, he will be closely watched for any sign he has moved closer to launching the nuclear reactor Russia is building for Iran.
Iran arrested on Sunday a prominent rights activist who has campaigned against the death penalty on charges of spreading propaganda and publishing secret documents, his lawyer said.
Russian special services have been warned of a plot to assassinate President Vladimir Putin when he visits Iran on Tuesday, Interfax news agency said on Sunday.
Iran said on Sunday it has no new information about the fate of a Japanese student who was kidnapped last week by bandits in the restive southeast of the country.
Two Israeli soldiers captured by Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah in 2006 have been handed to Iran and could be freed in a German-brokered swap, an Arabic newspaper reported on Sunday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will show his preference for dialogue with Iran when he visits Tehran on Tuesday, amid calls from the West for stronger pressure on Iran to curb suspected plans for a nuclear bomb.
Russian Leader's First Trip to Iran Viewed As Test of Kremlin Intentions