A British court sentenced a former British soldier to 14 years in prison for spying for Iran after he escaped from prison before going on trial.
Daniel Khalife, 23, was accused of carrying out a “dangerous and fantastical plan” that involved paying Iranian intelligence for money, according to a judge at Woolwich Crown Court in southeast London on Monday.
Khalife was found guilty in November of espionage and “terrorism” charges, as well as of escaping prison in 2023.
The ex-soldier, whose mother is Iranian, gathered information over a two-and-a-half-year period while posted in the UK and United States, including the names of elite special forces personnel, before being arrested and charged in 2023.
Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb remarked, “The mere fact that you started this dangerous and fantastical plan demonstrates your immaturity and lack of wisdom.”
After enlisting in the British army, Khalife was charged with “cynical game” by the prosecution by getting in touch with a man connected to Iranian intelligence.
Khalife claimed to be a “double agent” and that he wanted to be a “double agent” and had spoken with both the UK’s MI6 and MI5 intelligence services about his contacts. He claimed that he and his family detested the Iranian government.
After being charged, he was released from the military.
Khalife also admitted to escaping Wandsworth Prison in London in September 2023 while the other charges were pending. Before being discovered days later, he tied himself to the bottom of a delivery van, launching a nationwide manhunt.
The former soldier, who grew up in southwest London, joined the army in 2018 aged 16.
Cheema-Grubb said she had “no doubt” that Khalife used his Iranian heritage to gain the trust of his contacts.
During the trial, jurors were shown a photograph from Khalife’s phone of a handwritten list he had made of 15 soldiers, including their service number, rank, initials, surname and unit.
The judge argued that giving special forces personnel to an enemy state would have significantly increased the risk to them and their operational effectiveness and that such information was “undoubtedly valuable.”
Khalife allegedly maintained contact with Iranian agents while stationed in Fort Hood, Texas, in the United States between February and April 2021, receiving a second-highest level of NATO security clearance, one below “cosmic top secret.”
He also travelled to Turkiye to meet his Iranian handlers, and twice collected money in exchange for information, according to authorities.
Khalife argued the documents he passed to his Iranian handler were useless, being either publicly available, or ones he created himself.
His lawyer Gul Nawaz Hussain, who drew a contrast between “007 and Scooby Doo” in terms of Khalife’s ability and actions, said that he was not driven by malice, greed, religious fervour or ideological conviction.
Source: Aljazeera
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