Daniel Khalife: Alleged spy ‘talked about going to Iran for training’, court hears

In the recording, Khalife apparently argues with the two men about whether he should travel to Iran or Lebanon.

One of the men, who appears to be the most experienced, suggests that Lebanon is the best option.

Khalife then says, “I wanted to get some training from you, and I think the best training for me is inside Iran.”

But the man, speaking in a thick Iranian accent, says Lebanon is better: “Yes, there we can train him and because we have a safe place there – yes.”

“Your safety and healthiness are very important to us,” he says.

The man adds: “We don’t want any dangers to you and the planning for Lebanon. If this is better, if this is good, we can plan a safe meeting here.”

Khalife says he is about to take a month off, starting in mid-December.

Your Iranian contact asks: “Isn’t it delicate for you to travel to Lebanon?”

Khalife says, “It’s delicate. I have to plan. I can’t pay with my credit card. So what I have to do is pay in cash. I will use the money you gave me.”

The prosecution said the recording of the conversation was recovered from Khalife’s own iPad.

There is no evidence that Khalife ever traveled to Iran or Lebanon.

Earlier, the jury read transcripts of two conversations Khalife had with MI5 call handlers after calling the publicly available phone number.

In the first call, he said he was approached by an Iranian and started sending them fabricated documents.

He said he had collected a sum of money in £20 notes from a bag of dog poop in Mill Hill Park, north London, and said a year later he had collected £1,000 pounds from under a pot in a cemetery in Kensal Green in the west. London.

On the next call, he questions why he didn’t receive a callback.