Former soldier convicted: spying for Iran and spectacular escape!

Former soldier convicted: spying for Iran and spectacular escape!

A former British soldier, Daniel Abed Khalife, has been found guilty of passing classified information to people linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Garden (IRGC). The verdict came on Thursday at Woolwich Crown Court in London, where jurors found that Khalife breached Britain's Official Secrets Act and Terrorism Act between May 2019 and January 2022. Sensitive information transmitted included the names of special forces officers.

Khalife, who joined the military at 16, claimed in court that he had been in contact with the Iranian government, ultimately working as a double agent for the UK - inspired by the popular TV series Homeland. Despite his ties to Iran, he emphasized that he and his family were against the Iranian regime. “I and my family are against the regime in Iran,” he told the jury.

Arrest and escape from prison

Prosecutors described Khalife as playing a "cynical game" after he anonymously contacted Britain's foreign intelligence agency MI6 and said he wanted to become a spy. Khalife, who served as a computer technician, was also charged with leaving a fake bomb on a desk and fleeing his barracks in January 2023, but was acquitted by the jury on that count.

His escape from Wandsworth Prison in London in September 2023 made headlines when he attached himself to the underside of a truck using an improvised device made from kitchen aprons and carabiners. He was arrested three days later on the banks of the Grand Union Canal in west London following a nationwide manhunt. Khalife said he demonstrated his "skills" to convince authorities that it was "foolish" to keep him in prison. The police described him as a fantasist whose amateurish approach had serious negative consequences for British interests.