Former British soldier found guilty of spying for Iran

A former British soldier who escaped from prison ahead of his trial was found guilty of spying for Iran by a British court on Thursday but was acquitted of bomb fraud charges.

A jury at Woolwich Crown Court in south-east London has found army soldier Daniel Khalife, 23, guilty of charges of espionage and terrorism, including eliciting or attempting to elicit information that could be useful to someone planning an act of terror.

Khalife was found to have breached the Official Secrets Act and the Terrorism Act. Prosecutors said he “seriously harmed” military personnel and “damaged” national security.

Prosecutors accused Khalife of playing a “cynical game” after joining the army, and that he was contacted shortly afterwards by a man linked to Iranian intelligence.

They said he then told Britain’s overseas intelligence service MI6 that he wanted to become a double agent.

The jury was told he collected “a very large amount of restricted and secret material” while stationed in Britain and the United States over two and a half years before being arrested and charged in 2023.

Khalife admitted at trial that he escaped from a London prison in September 2023 strapped to the underside of a food truck, a disappearance that sparked a nationwide manhunt.

“Daniel Khalife used his job to undermine national security,” said Bethan David of the Crown Prosecution Service, which prosecutes in England and Wales.

“He covertly sought out and obtained copies of classified and sensitive information that he knew was protected and passed them on to individuals he believed were acting on behalf of the Iranian state.

“Sharing the information could have exposed military personnel to serious harm or danger to their lives and jeopardized the security of Britain.”

– ‘Reckless’ –

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a former chief prosecutor before entering politics, “welcomed” the verdict, his spokesman said.

“It was clearly a complex case, and we thank our security partners, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service, for their work to expose this individual’s crimes and bring them to justice,” he told reporters.

Khalife, who grew up with his Iranian mother in south-west London, joined the army in 2018 at the age of 16.

He was accused of passing information, including the names of elite forces personnel, to Iranian intelligence for cash between May 2019 and January 2022.

During the trial, jurors were shown a photo from Khalife’s iPhone of a handwritten list he had made of fifteen soldiers, including their service number, rank, initials, last name and unit.

He is said to have remained in contact with Iranian handlers while stationed at Fort Hood in Texas between February and April 2021, where he was given the second-highest level of NATO security clearance, one under “cosmic top secret”.

Prosecutors had also accused him of planting an improvised bomb in his army barracks before fleeing in January 2023, but the jury acquitted Khalife of the charge.

“The threat to Britain from states like Iran is very serious, so it is extremely reckless and dangerous for any soldier in the army to share sensitive military material and information with them,” said Dominic Murphy, head of Counter Terrorism at the Metropolitan Police. Command.

Khalife will be sentenced at a later date.