U.S., Austrian officers foil plot to aid Iran military

U.S. and Austrian law-enforcement authorities have disrupted a suspected plot to illegally supply the Iranian military with thousands of advanced military night-vision systems from the United States, arresting two Iranian nationals on charges of attempting to violate Austrian export laws. more

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Iran threatens 'Top Secret' counter-attacks

Iran warns any state that acts against country's nuclear facilities.

A newly established Iranian group known as the Organization to Defense Iran's National Interests has threatened to take action against any state that attacks Iran's nuclear facilities.

The official IRNA news agency said the group, known by the acronym ODINI, issued a communiqué last week stating it would take action if economic sanctions were imposed on Iran for its failure to abide by international nuclear controls. ...

The group also stated Iran should employ "assistance from the unseen world" as a defense tactic. more

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Armitage says diplomacy the best path on Iran issue

Excerpt of an interview on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

MAXINE McKEW: Is there something of an unspoken wish that the Israelis will take care of this in the same way they bombed Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981?

RICHARD ARMITAGE: I think people speculate that are irresponsible, this is not, by the way - the Iranian situation doesn't lend itself to an Osirak solution as we saw in 1981.

Many of the facilities are underground or disguised and you could never be sure that if you took such a chance that you would get any, much less most, of the Iranian nuclear program.

The best way to resolve this is through diplomacy.

There has to be, in diplomacy, a bad or tough cop and right now that role is regulated to us. more

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Brownback's Iran Provisions Pass Senate in Omnibus Spending Bill

U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today applauded passage of an amendment he authored in the Omnibus Appropriations bill under State Department and foreign operations funding.

With respect to Iran, the bill funds $3 million for programs that promote democracy. A portion can be used for funding a conference in the United States to bring together Iranian dissident groups, human rights advocates, and non-governmental organizations to discuss the state of the democracy movement and human rights in Iran. more

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Taking Europe for a Ride

Amir Taheri explains why Europe is playing this charade with Iran.

One reason is that EU is run by techno-bureaucrats masquerading as politicians. The techno-bureaucrat cannot conceive of an adversary that does not play the game by his rules. We are witnessing a clash of cultures. On the European side we have the products of a society in which politics is defined as the art of distributing resources, accommodating differences, and placing laws made by consensus above faith and ideology. In that type of politics there is no right and wrong, no good and evil, as such — only legal and illegal.

The practitioner of that type of politics interprets his lack of critical judgment as tolerance of diversity.

On the other side we have the Khomeinist politicians who regard their brand of Islam as the only true religion that should, one day, conquer the world. They claim that, with the Soviet Union in the dust bin of history, their regime offers the only alternative vision of the world to that of the United States. ...

Michel Barnier, the French foreign minister, let the cat out of the bag when he said that all that the EU wanted was “to prevent another Iraq.” ... more

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Powell: U.S. Can't Hunt Iran Nukes in 'Every Cave'

Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Friday:

"I can't make sure it is going to happen," he told Reuters in an interview as he prepares to leave office. "You can't look in every cave that might be in Iran." ...

"We have to remain uneasy about this (agreement) because it is still only a suspension. ... We really need an end to that program," he said. more

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The IAEA agreement will not last long - Hardliners Say

It looks like the agreement will not last long.

“Maybe this predicament would surprise, but for sure, in a not much far future, you would stand witness that the resolution the IAEA agreed on Iran in November preventing our country from reaching nuclear technology for peaceful purposes would be declared void and non-executable”, wrote Mr. Hoseyn Shari’atmadari, a high-ranking intelligence officer appointed by Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i as Executive Editor of the radical daily “Keyhan”. ...

“What the Europeans have achieved is the sustained and full closure of all our nuclear activities”, wrote both Keyhan and “Jomhouri Eslami” (Islamic Republic) that belongs to Mr. Khameneh’i. ...

“What our diplomats achieved (in Vienna) is not a victory, as they claim, for while the Europeans have got all they wanted and the Americans half of their demands, we reached ten per cent only”, Mr. Ali Larijani, the personal Representative of the [Supreme]Leader... more

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Iran Launches Large Military Exercise Near Iraqi Border

If the Iraqi elections look like they are going to be a success, watch for these troops to move west into Iraq. Iranian military leaders have been threatening a preemptive strike on US forces.

Iran 's army launched its largest military exercise Friday near the Iraqi border, state-run radio reported. Gen. Ali Salimi, the army's chief commander, was quoted as saying the "Followers of the Supreme Leader" exercises were "the biggest in the history of the army" in number of units and operations.

More than 120,000 air and ground troops were to take part in the war games across more than 100,000 square kilometers in five western provinces near the Iraqi border. It was not immediately clear why the location was chosen or how long the exercise would last.

Tanks, armored personnel carriers, jet fighters and helicopters will be deployed in the exercise, Gen. Amir Karimi, a spokesman, was quoted as saying.

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China Grumbles Over US Sanctions on Firms Selling Weapons Know-How to Iran

The Chinese are mad us?

Washington's decision to impose sanctions on Chinese companies for selling weapons technology to Iran will not help bilateral non-proliferation cooperation, according to Beijing's foreign ministry. ...

Chinese entities also continued to work with Iran on ballistic missile-related projects, thus helping Iran to move toward its goal of becoming self-sufficient in ballistic missile production.

Chinese firms had also provided dual-use missile-related items and raw materials to the Islamic Republic, and were a primary supplier of advanced conventional weapons as well. more

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Rumsfeld warns Iran making 'a lot of mistakes'

Today US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said:

"The Iranians are making a lot of mistakes, let me just put it that way," ...

"And what one has to do at that stage is continue to put pressure on them, and it's up to the countries of the United Nations to decide what kind of steps they may or may not want to take," he said. ...

"My hope is that over time we will see a shift in that country, just as we saw a shift from the shah to the ayatollah. It happened almost overnight," he said. more

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UN report: World threatened by 'cascade of proliferation'

A report submitted to the United Nations today called the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction a leading threat and endorsed the preemptive strike option.

"We are approaching a point at which the erosion of the nonproliferation regime could become irreversible and result in a cascade of proliferation," the report said. more

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Diplomats: U.N. Lacks Right to Inspect Sites in Iran

Inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog would like to visit a secret military site in Iran.

"The IAEA simply has no authority to go to sites that are not declared nuclear sites," a diplomat close to the IAEA inspection process told Reuters. He said that the IAEA had not asked to inspect Lavizan II, although they would like to.

"If a country has a strategy for hiding its nuclear program, then the Additional Protocol is of little use," http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.bold.gif
insert bold tagsa U.N. diplomat said, adding that the IAEA would not have been able to prove that Libya had an atomic arms program if Muammar Gaddafi had not confessed and handed over his atom bomb designs. more

Captain's Quarters has a few thoughts as well.

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China Can Do More To Deter Nuke Spread

Rep. Henry Hyde accused China on Thursday of standing in the way of America's efforts to halt nuclear weapons programs.

"China's role has fallen between offering begrudging help and doing outright harm," Hyde, an Illinois Republican, said in a speech to business leaders in Hong Kong.

"Frustrating the United States in its efforts and entangling it indefinitely may have its attractions to Beijing, but the result has been to allow and even encourage a dangerous and unpredictable regime to progress in its deadly efforts," he said. more

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U.S. Told of Iranian Effort to Create Nuclear Warhead

Bill Gertz has some interesting information on Iran's centrifuge program.

A CIA report made public last week said the U.S. government "remains convinced that Tehran has been pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons program."...

officials said Tehran is having problems with developing a reliable centrifuge "cascade," a series of hundreds or thousands of machines that spin uranium hexaflouride gas into highly enriched uranium — the key fuel for nuclear bombs, the officials said.

However, the design work is close to completion and once testing is finished on a successful machine, the Iranians will begin large-scale production of centrifuges, they said.

"They just need to make one machine that doesn't explode when it spins at 7,000 rpm, and then they'll go into large-scale production," one official said. more

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Iranian Student Freeper Just Escaped Iran! He needs our help!

We first met in the summer of 2003 when I was reporting on the protests inside of Iran (Iranian Alert Daily Threads). There were massive demonstrations taking place all over Iran and we hoped that Iran had reached a "tipping point." It was an exciting time and this young man kept the Free Republic community informed. He would risk his life sending me “on the spot reports” about these demonstrations and clashes, which I posted for him.

After the protests died down, he continued to write to me. He would send messages hoping to educate Americans and those in the west about what the average Iranian thinks of America. He wanted to dispel the myth that Iranians were crazed anti-Americans. He tried to explain what kind of support the people of Iran were hoping to see from American leaders. He longed for our clear support of the Iranian people desire for regime change in Iran.

Recently, this friend of ours was forced to go “underground.” The Iranian regime discovered that he had passed information to our government. So for the past month the regime has been hunting him. Several times he was nearly captured, so he kept on the move every few hours. He struggled with depression, health and fear. It was a horrifying situation. I tried to encourage him, and focused on how to keep him from being forced back into Iran after his visa expires.

After many weeks he was finally able to get help and sneak out of the country.

But now he could use some help from the blogosphere.

Now we need to ensure that when he finally gets to a US embassy that they will really help him, not merely refer him the UN refugee program.

We are asking anyone that has contacts in the administration or the state department to please contact us. We are seeking a way to help him get asylum.

He risked his life for us; the least we can do is help him.

If you have a blog, please post this request. There must be someone that can help us.

Thanks in advance,

DoctorZin and our Iranian Freeper

PS Our Iranian Freeper still has family in Iran so we have to limit what we are saying on this thread. But I can give much more detailed information to contacts in our government. Thanks.


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Arms Inspectors Said to Seek Access to Iran Sites

International inspectors are requesting access to two secret Iranian military site:

One of the suspect military sites under investigation by the I.A.E.A. is a huge, decades-old facility southeast of Tehran, the Parchin military complex. Inspectors believe Iran's military may be testing conventional high explosives at the site, of a type used to detonate nuclear weapons. ...

The second site is a relatively new facility, called Lavisan II, built in northeastern Tehran, near the site of an older facility that was dismantled within the past year....

Inspectors say they now possess procurement records showing that the military ordered a long shopping list of high-tech equipment for the Lavisan facilities more

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Five webloggers jailed

Reporters Without Borders is reporting:

"The government is now attacking blogs, the last bastion of freedom on a network that is experiencing ever tighter control," said the worldwide press freedom organisation. "At the same time, an Iranian delegate is sitting on a UN-created working group on Internet governance. The international community should condemn this masquerade," it added. more

Their blogs are: Dariush, Omid, and Payvand.

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Winds of Change.NET Regional Briefings: Iran

I just posted a briefing on Iran on WindsOfChange.NET. Check it out here.

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Response to Chester on Gen. Abizaid's tough talk

Gen. Abizaid's recent statement:

"We can generate more military power per square inch than anybody else on Earth, and everybody knows it," Abizaid said. "If you ever even contemplate our nuclear capability, it should give everybody the clear understanding that there is no power that can match the United States militarily." more

has generated a lot of speculation. Chester of Adventures of Chester asks,

But . . . is there a message being sent here?

I believe there is.

First, look at another statement he made at the same press conference:

"Why the Iranians would want to move against us in an overt manner that would cause us to use our air or naval power against them would be beyond me.

I believe he is well aware of the threats the Iranians have been making against the US in Iraq.

For those who haven't been following the wild statements made by Iranian leaders recently, here are a few examples. The Jerusalem Post, reported that Iran's supreme leader Khamenei declaration of war against the US back in July:

"We are at war with the enemy," Iran's Supreme Guide Ali Khamenehi told a meeting of mullahs in the city of Hamadan, west of Teheran, last Monday. "The central battlefield [of this war] is Iraq."

Iran has already declared its own preemptive strike doctrine, according to ABC News Online:

Iranian Defence Minister Ali Shamkhani has warned that Iran might launch a preemptive strike against US forces in the region to prevent an attack on its nuclear facilities. ABC News reported: ...

"Some military commanders in Iran are convinced that preventive operations which the Americans talk about are not their monopoly. ...

"The US military presence [in Iraq] will not become an element of strength [for Washington] at our expense. The opposite is true, because their forces would turn into a hostage" in Iranian hands in the event of an attack, he said.

I have heard unconfirmed reports that there are 250,000 Iranian troops near the border of Iraq and that they are just waiting for orders to launch an attack on US forces in Iraq. I can just hear the Mullahs of Iran arguing that the US was about to attack us and "we had to act preemptively." An attack would also have the benefit of preventing the Iraq elections which Iran has been working desperately to stop.

This might explain the good generals need to tough talk now.

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Iran Says It Will Suspend but Not End Its Uranium Program

So what did the EU get out of their agreement with Iran? an apology?

"Suspension must be for as long as we are negotiating with Europe," Mr. Rowhani, who is also secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said at a news conference. "Its period must be reasonable." ...

"We admit that there were violations on our behalf," he said. "We had to find a solution and we chose to cooperate." more

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Battle of the Iran Bloggers

A few days ago a new Iranian website 60000000.com appeared asking people to support a referendum in Iran, where the people choose whether or not they want a regime change.

They yesterday a new website appeared 70000000.com asking people not to support the 60000000.com website arguing that a referendum must only be held after the removal of the Mullahs. Read more here.

I support the 70000000.com site. Sign their petition.

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UK condemns TV man who Iran hardliners want dead

Manouchehr Fouladvand UK-based Iranian exile TV personality he frequently mocks the Prophet Muhammad and Islam's holy book the Koran and now is marked for death by Iran's hardliners.

"The firing of a bullet into his damned and blasphemous head is an incontestable necessity, and how cherished is the emissary of that bullet," Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the hardline Kayhan daily, said in an editorial.

But this has embarrased the British government.

"The British government does not share Mr Fouladvand's views," said Matthew Gould, deputy head of mission at the British Embassy in Tehran. "We deplore any attacks on Islam ... We condemn those who stir up division." more

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Iran and the EU's Agreement: An "Oil for Nukes" Program?

For many months now, the US State Department, the CIA, as well as other foreign intelligence services have been sounding the alarm that Iran has an undeclared nuclear weapons program.

In response the US has said it will not permit Iran to become a nuclear power.

The US wanted to take the issue to the UN Security Council which can authorize sanctions or an embargo on its oil exports. An embargo of oil will likely collapse the regime, given time. But time is not something the EU has, as it imports 8% of its oil from Iran and has only 90 days of oil reserves. The EU fears their economy will collapse before Iran's government falls.

Therefore, the EU sought to cut a deal with the Iranians to convince the US that Iran is not a threat. Years ago, Iran signed the Non Proliferation Treaty, in which they agreed not to pursue nuclear weapons technology. But Iran had recently been threatening to withdraw from the treaty.

Therefore, the EU sought to offer Iran greater economic ties in exchange for promises not to pursue a nuclear weapons program. The US encouraged their effort, but had little faith that the EU would be able to accomplish the deal.

Last week, diplomats from the EU worked feverishly to get an agreement prior to the November 25th meeting of the IAEA. They announced success. Before the ink was dry on their agreement, the Iranians began demanding exceptions.

The end result being that the EU agreed to softer agreement than the US had hoped for. The agreement would open greater trade between the EU and Iran, the EU would provide Iran with peaceful nuclear technology if Iran would stop its uranium enrichment program. But the agreement has no teeth as it is "a voluntary confidence building measure, not legal obligation.

This agreement was accepted by the IAEA. The Russian and Chinese applauded the agreement.

But immediately Iran declared that Iran will never indefinitely suspend their uranium enrichment program.

So Iran bought some time and it will likely leave the US to deal with Iran on its own. To be continued.

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White House calls deal on Iran nukes 'a start'

It's a start," said a senior administration official. "But we've seen these agreements before and, unfortunately, Iran hasn't always lived up to them." more

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The (Sort Of) Conclusion to the Elephant in the Room

Dan Darling provides yet further another chapter in his series on Iran. Another Must Read!

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China Stand with Iran's on nuclear issue

China finally weighs in on Iran:

"China has always advocated that Iran's nuclear issue should be resolved through consultations and dialogues within the framework of the IAEA," said Zhang Yan, permanent representative of China to the UN and other international organizations in Vienna, at the IAEA's Board of Governors meeting. more

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Iran will 'never' give up nuclear bomb drive: Israeli FM

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said after meeting the EU's Dutch presidency:

"we are very sceptical because we know what the real intentions of the Iranians are, we know that they will never abandon their dream to have a nuclear bomb," ...

"the Iranians are developing a new missile that will include in its range Paris, Berlin, London, the south of a part of Russia"

"So it's not the problem of Israel any more. I think that to give this regime, this tyranny, the ability to hold a nuclear bomb -- it's a nightmare, it's a nightmare not only for Israel, it's a nightmare for the entire world." more

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U.S. may seek lone push on Iran sanctions

The US is threatening to take the issue of Iran's nuclear weapons program to the UN Security Council, alone.

"This resolution which was approved by the IAEA was a definite defeat for our enemies who wanted to pressure Iran by sending its case to the U.N. Security Council," President Mohammad Khatami was quoted by state radio as saying.

The United States believes Iran is playing games with the international community and wants to see it referred to the Council. U.S. envoy Jackie Sanders told the IAEA's board of governors that Washington reserved the right to go it alone.

"Quite apart from the question of how this board chooses to handle these matters, of course, the United States reserves all of its options with respect to Security Council consideration of the Iranian nuclear weapons programme," she said on Monday.

"Any member, of the United Nations may bring to the attention of the Security Council any situation that might endanger the maintenance of international peace and security." more

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The EU fails to shutdown Iran's 20 certifuges

Iran's last 20 centrifuges that I have reported must run to mask the "sound" of the undeclared centrifuge program are being permitted to run, under the EU agreement. The agreement is a dangerous joke.

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The IAEA Resolution

Full text of the draft resolution proposed Monday to the Board of Directors of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

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Now Iran says that there are no Al Qaeda in Custody

Dan Darling reviews a report that says claims that Iran is now saying that they have no members of Al Qaeda in custody.

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Iran's Conservatives Consolidate Power

An interesting discussion of the various political power factions in Iran.

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Iran Apparently Agrees to Stop Enrichment

Iran backs down?

Backing down before a deadline, Iran apparently has given up its demand to exempt some equipment from a deal freezing uranium enrichment programs that can make nuclear weapons, diplomats said Sunday.

Diplomats from the European Union and elsewhere said the International Atomic Energy Agency received a letter containing a pledge not to test some centrifuges during the freeze. more

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Iran Backs Away From Demands on A-Bomb Fuel

The NY Times is still not getting clear answer on whether or not Iran is going to turn off the "20 centrifuges."

"We've seen this kind of commitment from Iran before," a State Department official said. ...

"Iran will permit the I.A.E.A. to place these centrifuges under agency surveillance," said Hossein Mousavian, the chief Iranian negotiator, in a telephone interview from Vienna. "Iran will not conduct any testing."

Asked specifically whether the machines would be turned off, as the Europeans have demanded, Mr. Mousavian said, "We say Iran will not conduct any testing," adding that the matter of Iran's desire to continue research will be discussed when Iran and the European countries begin talks in the coming weeks on possible economic, technological and political incentives for Iran under the European agreement. more

First, let hope they actually turn off the centrifuges, not simply monitor them. See why here.

But something no one is talking about is Iran's heavy water reactor in Arak. The EU agreement ignores it. Read more about that here.

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The CIA Report on Iran

For too long we have been depending on "unnamed sources" and the mainstream media for information on Iran's WMD program. Recently the CIA declassified a report on Iran. Here is an excerpt:

Iran continued to vigorously pursue indigenous programs to produce nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. Read much more here.

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EU/Iran's Agreement: On, Off, or On?

The last few days have seen the EU's prospects for an agreement with Iran move from jubilation to despair to cautious optimism to dead to on again.

Last night Iran was reasserting its right to operate 20 centrifuges for research and development purposes. It appeared they were willing to scuttle their agreement with the EU over this.

The EU gave Iran a deadline of Monday to accept their soften downed agreement.

Now this morning the Iranians appear may have backed down on the "research" centrifuges. But according to Reuters:

It was unclear what France, Britain and Germany, the "Big Three" running the talks with Iran on behalf of the European Union, thought of Iran's concession. "The process is ongoing," a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said. ...

"There are still some things that need to be worked out regarding the resolution," the diplomat said.more

So despite the headlines in the media, the deal is still not done.

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Europeans break off talks with Iran

This just in from DEBKAfiles. The mainstream media has yet to report this:

Europeans break off talks with Iran on attempt rescue uranium enrichment deal at UN nuclear watchdog meeting in Vienna, opening door to UN sanctions. Attempt collapsed when Iranian FM Kharrazi rejected their draft resolution. He also refused to drop demand for exemption of 20 centrifuges from uranium enrichment freeze.

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Iran Press News Publishes RCI Report

An excellent Iran News website, Iran Press News has published our report: Why Iran must to shut down its last 20 centrifuges.

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