From Facebook to Wandsworth: The Story of a Former British Soldier Spying for the Islamic Republic

Daniel Khalife, a former British soldier accused of spying for Iran and escaping from prison, first connected with an Iranian intelligence officer through a message on Facebook. According to a BBC report, 23-year-old Khalife, who joined the army in September 2018, found and contacted Hamid Qashqavi, an individual linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, after reading news about Qashqavi being sanctioned. As Khalife's relationship with Qashqavi and other Iranians progressed, he was instructed to go to a park in North London to collect £1,500 hidden in a dog poop bag. Khalife took a photo of the bag containing the money and sent it to his Iranian contacts to prove he had received the funds. He told police that he had created several 'fake documents' to convince the Iranians to trust him, including a letter from Ben Wallace, the former UK Defense Secretary, to the head of MI6. He also set up a fake email account and contacted MI6, claiming he wanted to work as a 'double agent.' Khalife was arrested in January 2022 at Stafford military base. After being released on bail in January 2023, he escaped from his barracks and fled from Wandsworth prison in South London in September 2023. Three days later, he was apprehended along a canal path in West London. Mark Heywood, a prosecutor, told a jury in London on Tuesday, October 9, that Daniel Abed Khalife had been gathering 'sensitive and sometimes classified' information for over two years between May 2019 and January 2022, claiming he did so to become a double agent. Khalife has denied all charges of espionage and escape from prison. His trial at Woolwich Crown Court is ongoing.