Ex-soldier on trial accused of spying for Iran

A former British soldier accused of escaping from Wandsworth prison last year made contact with Iranian security forces before telling MI6 he wanted to work as a double agent, a trial has heard.

Daniel Khalife, 23, has gone on trial on charges of collecting sensitive military information for Iran.

Woolwich Crown Court heard Mr Khalife obtained details about serving members of the armed forces from a personnel system.

He denies all the charges.

The prosecution told the court that Iran presented a real threat to the security of the UK.

Mr Khalife, who was brought up in Kingston, south-west London by his Iranian-born mother, joined the Army in September 2018, two weeks before his 17th birthday, the jury heard.

After completing a 23-week course at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, he joined the Royal Corps of Signals which provides communications, IT and cyber support.

The court heard that Mr Khalife underwent and passed security clearance before starting his specialist training in 2019, and completed the year-long course in early 2020.

After this he was posted to the 16th Signal Regiment in Stafford, which delivers sophisticated digital communication and satellite services to the army.

“We are not talking about the odd personal radio in this case”, Mark Heywood KC, for the prosecution, said.

“When the security of those systems and communications is at risk, so is the operational capability and effectiveness of the Army itself.”

Mr Khalife's trial heard that, in April 2019, he created a contact with the +98 dialling code for Iran.

The jury heard that Mr Khalife told police in an interview in 2022 that he had made contact with Hamed Ghashghavi, an individual connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

He told police he was then transferred to an English-speaking handler.

Mr Heywood KC said: "His aim in doing so was clearly to offer himself as an asset to Iran's external security apparatus."

The court heard the soldier later claimed this had all been part of a double-bluff and that he intended to sell himself to the UK security services.

A message was sent under a false name to MI6 using the "contact us" page of the security service's website, claiming he wanted to work as a "double agent", the jury was told.

The message said he had been asked to provide the Iranian government with information and had sent them a fake document for which they paid $2,000 (£1,500) left in a dog poo bag in Mill Hill Park, north London, the court heard.

The jury was shown a selfie of Mr Khalife taken in the park, and a photo of an envelope inside a dog poo bag.

Mr Heywood KC said “Over a period of more than two years, Mr Khalife collected and made digital records, but sometimes also in paper form, of a large quantity of information of that kind.

"All the while he was a serving soldier of the British Army, employed to uphold and protect national security."

He added: “Mr Khalife had no real intention to simply get his head down, learn his trade and become what he considered to be a mere Army signaller, even an expert.

"Even during this early stage of his learning, and while still 17, he had begun to entertain thoughts about espionage.“

Jurors were told that after police caught up with him and he had been released on bail, Mr Khalife absconded from his barracks, leaving canisters and wires on his desk intended to look like an explosive device.

Mr Khalife is alleged to have escaped from HMP Wandsworth in south London while on remand on terror and espionage charges by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery lorry on 6 September 2023.

He was arrested on a canal towpath in west London three days later.

The trial, expected to last about six weeks, continues.