Former UK soldier found guilty of spying for Iran

A former British soldier who escaped prison ahead of his trial was found guilty at a UK court on Thursday of spying for Iran but cleared of a bomb hoax charge.

A jury at Woolwich Crown Court in southeast London found army soldier Daniel Khalife, 23, guilty of espionage and terrorism charges, including eliciting or attempting to elicit information likely to be useful to a person preparing an act of terrorism.

Khalife was found to have breached the Official Secrets Act and the Terrorism Act. Prosecutors said he could have "seriously harmed" military personnel and "prejudiced" national security.

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

They said he subsequently told Britain's overseas intelligence agency MI6 he wanted to be a double agent.

The jury was told he gathered "a very large body of restricted and classified material" over two and a half years while posted in the UK and the United States, before being arrested and charged in 2023.

Khalife admitted during trial to escaping from a London prison in September 2023 strapped to the underside of a food delivery truck, a disappearance which sparked a nationwide manhunt.

"Daniel Khalife used his employment to undermine national security," said Bethan David from the Crown Prosecution Service, which brings prosecutions in England and Wales.

"He surreptitiously sought out and obtained copies of secret and sensitive information which he knew were protected and passed these on to individuals he believed to be acting on behalf of the Iranian state.

"The sharing of the information could have exposed military personnel to serious harm, or a risk to life, and prejudiced the safety and security of the United Kingdom."

- 'Reckless' -

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

"It was obviously a complex case, and we thank our security partners, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service, for their work to uncover this individual's crimes and bring them to justice," he told reporters.

Khalife, who grew up in southwest London with his Iranian mother, joined the army in 2018 aged 16.

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

During the trial, jurors were shown a photograph from Khalife's iPhone of a handwritten list he had made of 15 soldiers, including their service number, rank, initials, surname and unit.

He allegedly remained in contact with Iranian handlers while posted to Fort Hood in Texas between February and April 2021, where he was given the second-highest level of NATO security clearance, one below "cosmic top secret".

Prosecutors had also accused him of planting a makeshift bomb at his army barracks before fleeing in January 2023, but the jury cleared Khalife of the charge.

"The threat to the UK from states such as Iran is very serious, so for a soldier in the Army to be sharing sensitive military material and information with them is extremely reckless and dangerous," said Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command.

Khalife will be sentenced at a later date.

aks/phz/rlp