Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran. Jul. 01 – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is in Tehran for talks with senior Iranian officials, state media reported on Sunday.

Reuters: Iran criticised on Sunday Tony Blair’s appointment as Middle East peace envoy but welcomed his successor as British prime minister, Gordon Brown.

Iran Focus: Villepinte, France, Jul. 01 – Tens of thousands of Iranians converged on a Paris exhibition centre on Saturday in support of the main Iranian opposition group, and to denounce EU action against the group.

Reuters: Iran’s supreme leader on Saturday threw his weight behind a gasoline rationing scheme which sparked angry protests and left more than a dozen petrol stations burnt out in the world’s fourth largest oil exporter.

AP: Iran’s top leaders defended a new fuel rationing plan Saturday that sparked violence earlier this week, saying it will free up funding for development projects and make the country “invincible,” state-run television reported.

New York Times: President Bush, seeking to change the tone of an increasingly caustic, fraught relationship with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, will urge him on Sunday to support a major escalation of pressure on Iran, administration officials said.

Sunday Telegraph: The petitions kiosk outside President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s home in Teheran, set up as a hotline to Iran’s self-described “humblest servant”, receives all kinds of requests.