Former British Army Spy On Iranian Military Information Sentenced To 14 Years In Prison

JAKARTA - A former British soldier was sentenced to more than 14 years in prison for gathering sensitive information about Iran.

The former soldier also gathered the names of special forces personnel before escaping from prison.

Daniel Abed Khalife was indicted last November for gathering military and classified information for Iran between 2019 and 2022, and obtaining information that may be useful for terrorism.

Khalife, who was released from the armed forces after he was indicted, also admitted to escaping from London's Wandsworth prison in September 2023 pending trial on other charges.

Khalife tied himself to the bottom of the freight delivery car, triggering national hunting before he was arrested a few days later.

The 23-year-old whose mother was born in Iran, said she was a patriot and contacted British MI6 and MI5 intelligence agencies about her contacts.

Khalife said he wanted to be a double agent'. He said he and his family hated the Iranian government.

But Judge Cheema-Grubb said Khalife started his "dangerous and lecherous" plan because of his " selfish desire to show off".

Reported by Reuters on Monday, February 3, the judge sentenced him to prison at the Woolwich Crown London Court for 14 years and three months.

The former soldier is known to have contacted Iranian officials and later engaged substantially with several agents linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps over a two-year period, and received two payments in return, prosecutors said.

Khalife, who joined the army shortly before his 17th birthday, also collected details of "individuals-individuals in Special Air Services and Special Ship Services - and, most strikingly, TT Soldiers, who are in the E Squad, a very secret unit," prosecutors said.

After escaping from prison, prosecutors said more than 150 officers were involved in the national hunt, with a loss of more than 250,000 pounds ($309,000) for police overtime work.