Alleged Iranian spy contacted MI6 to become double agent, court hears

A former British soldier accused of being a spy for Iran twice contacted MI6 to offer his services as a double agent, a court has heard.

Daniel Khalife, now 23, denies gathering information for Iran, compiling a list of special forces soldiers, perpetrating a bomb hoax and escaping prison.

Woolwich Crown Court heard Mr Khalife sent two emails to MI6, saying he wanted to work as a double agent for them.

The court was told the jury had seen flight bookings and photographs that show Mr Khalife also travelled to Turkey in August 2020, where he left a package intended for Iranian intelligence agents.

Mr Khalife – whose role in the Royal Corps of Signals gave him access to highly sensitive information – had offered to work as an agent for the Islamic Republic for 25 years in messages to Iranian intelligence handlers, the prosecution said.

One of those handlers, who used the name David Smith, told Mr Khalife that he would be paid. One message read: “We look forward to [seeing] you in Tehran …pal.”

Mark Heywood KC, for the prosecution, told the jury that the visit to Istanbul came “with a view to go onwards”, adding: “That was, says the prosecution, an attempt at least to meet, engage, face-to-face directly. The original attempt was to go to Iran.”

The court heard Mr Khalife went to Turkey in August 2020, staying at the Bomonti Hilton Hotel in Istanbul, but did not go to Iran.

After the trip, Mr Khalife sent an audio message to an unknown person, saying: “I delivered a package to them which I don’t think I should tell you but just don’t mention it to anyone.

“But they haven’t responded to me for about I think eight days so I was just wondering if something has happened because he hasn’t answered his phone or anything.”

The court heard pictures were recovered fro Mr Khalife’s phone later that month of sensitive communications equipment including a USB stick and a Selex Sentinel handset connected to the UK SECRET network.

By February 2021, he was at Fort Hood in Texas for a three-month military exercise called Warfighter.

More pictures were found on his phone of screens of military equipment, and a password sheet, the court heard. While he was in the United States, in April 2021, he was granted NATO SECRET security clearance.

But the jury heard that soon afterwards he was sending messages on Telegram to a contact in Iran. He was still in Texas at the time.

The court also heard that Mr Khalife, who allegedly escaped from HMP Wandsworth last year, won a cup for Best Junior Solider in his squadron, and was recommended for promotion to Lance Corporal aged just 20.

Giving evidence, Captain Lewis Fox, of 16 Signal Regiment, confirmed that in December 2020 Mr Khalife was awarded the trophy, which was “rare” for a signaller.

Mr Khalife, who joined the Army aged 16, was also described as a “master of Falcon” – a sophisticated military communication system.

He was recommended for promotion in September 2021 at an unusually early stage of his career.

But the prosecution says that from the age of 17, Mr Khalife had contacts with and was passing information to Iran.

In August 2019 he collected a small plastic bag from Mill Hill Park in North London which he later told police contained $2,000 (£1,534) in cash.

He twice contacted MI6 through a form on the agency’s website, disclosing the cash collection and stating: “I want to work as a double agent for the security service.”

There is no evidence that he received a reply.

On 23 August 2019 Mr Khalife left this message on the MI6 web page form:

“Hello about 5 months ago a man from the new horizon organisation contacted my in relation to providing the Iranian government with information. They said that they first needed me to create trust, so I made a fake document and sent it to them. After 1 week they payed me 2,000 dollars in a drop off point in Barnet. The reason why I agreed to do this is because I want to work as a double agent for the security service.”

A second message was left on 10 October 2019:

“I contacted the security service about 1 month ago, however I deleted the gmail account that I gave you because I didn’t feel as though I took the relevant precautionary measures to keep my identity hidden. 7 months ago I was contacted by an individual from the new horizon organisation in Iran, they new my job and they thought I had access to information that would be valuable to them, This in fact was not true, I believed I could use this new contact in Iran from the revolutionary guard corp to present myself as a double agent for the UK security services, I gathered already leaked info from wiki leaks and made it look like it was new information to be sent to them. After 2 weeks they said that I had gained they full trust and sent be $2K in a drop off location in Barnet, There is more stuff to add however I don’t have the time to write it all here.”

Gul Nawaz Hussain KC said his client Mr Khalife wanted to join the special forces, but was told not to apply “because of where his parents are from”.

Asked about Mr Khalife, Capt Fox said he would have “advised against going for special forces” as it was “a very long process and the vetting is in the last two weeks”.

He added it was important to “manage expectations for some soldiers”.

In an electronic note to himself, previously read to the court, Mr Khalife wrote that after being told he would be unlikely to pass the vetting process he “decided to start my own intel operation to prove that I was able to do this”.

In the note he added that he decided to use his connection to Iran to his advantage.

The jury has heard the Mr Khalife was first arrested in January 2022, and charged in January 2023.

He is alleged to have escaped from Wandsworth prison eight months later by strapping himself underneath a food delivery van before being recaptured after three days.

The trial continues.