A British soldier accused of spying has claimed he gathered damaging ‘kompromat’ information on a sanctioned Iranian whom he wanted to serve up to British intelligence.
Daniel Khalife, 23, is alleged to have betrayed his country by passing secrets to Iran, before escaping prison at HMP Wandsworth while awaiting trial last year.
But he insists he was actually acting as an amateur ‘double agent’ to prove himself, after being told his Iranian heritage would stop him getting his dream job in military intelligence.
Giving evidence at Woolwich Crown Court, Khalife described how he set about trying to win the trust of an Iranian man called Hamed Ghashghavi, who is sanctioned by the US for his links to the regime in Tehran.
Khalife said Ghashgavi eventually introduced him to some Iranian intelligence officers and he began to pass them fake secret documents that he had created on his laptop.
Daniel Khalife, who is accused of spying for Iran and escaping from prison, has told a court he is a ‘patriot’ and claimed he had gathered details on a sanctioned Iranian
Giving evidence at Woolwich Crown Court, Khalife said he was trying to act as a ‘double agent’
Eventually, Ghashgavi was said to have been ostracised by the Iranian spies – and he poured his heart over text to Khalife about his anger towards them.
‘I received a large declaration of disdain for working with the Iranians,’ he said.
‘What we’ve got here is an individual who is aligned with the Iranian intelligence apparatus and it is a potential intelligence opportunity for Western intelligence.
‘This was the kompromat that I was looking for.’
He explained that the ‘kompromat’ – compromising material – suggested Ghashgavi was a ‘clear potential asset’ who British intelligence could use to spy on Iran.
Khalife made two attempts to contact British intelligence during the two-year period he is alleged to have spied for Iran – the first to MI6 and the second to MI5.
But within weeks of calling MI5 in late 2021, he was arrested on suspicion of passing sensitive intelligence to Iranian agents by exploiting his trusted role in the Royal Corps of Signals.
Khalife told jurors that he had been intending to ‘draw out’ Iranian intelligence officers and ‘strengthen the relationship based on lies’.
He described being ‘devastated’ to learn that his Iranian heritage would mean he was unlikely to get the security clearance required to work in intelligence roles.
On-the-run prisoner Daniel Khalife picked up a copy of the Daily Mail to read the latest on the police search for him, CCTV shows
Khalife is alleged to have fled his Army barracks when he realised he would face criminal charges over allegations he passed classified information to Iran’s intelligence service. Here he is pictured after his arrest by the Met on a canal towpath on September 9 2023
Khalife has denied espionage and insists he was trying to work with British security services
Explaining why he mounted his own undercover operation against the Iranians, he said: ‘I didn’t really want to give up. I believed I could use my background, that was clear to me.
‘I wanted my country to understand that the process being pursued at that time was foolish.’
But he claimed that he loved his country and considered himself a patriot.
Khalife told the court that the Iranians were keen for him to travel to Iran for training, but, because he had been passing them fake documents, he concluded this would be ‘too dangerous’.
He denies committing an act prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state, eliciting information about members of the armed forces, perpetrating a bomb hoax and escaping from lawful custody.
The trial continues.
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