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A former British army soldier is accused of potentially endangering Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s life by sending a fake intelligence report to Iran. Daniel Khalife, 23, is accused of creating and sending the document to Iranian agents with the title “Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Intelligence Options” in 2021. Jurors have heard that the document stated that the British government was unwilling to negotiate for the release of Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was held in Iran for six years. Additionally, Mr Khalife is standing trial on charges that include collecting and communicating useful information to an enemy, namely Iran, collecting names of Special Forces soldiers that would be useful for terrorism, and perpetrating a bomb hoax at his army barracks.
Mr Khalife’s trial began last month, and he has been giving evidence for four days. In court, jurors heard Mr Khalife’s false intelligence report, which said: “There will be no advances in the area of returning Nazanin to the UK without further procurement of the debt owed to the Islamic Republic. The UK will not be seen to pay ransoms to hostile nations… terrorists have long used kidnap for ransom.” Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was jailed for five years in 2016 after being arrested for allegedly plotting to overthrow the Tehran government, which she denies. The British-Iranian woman was released in 2022 after the UK government agreed to settle a £400m debt dating back to the 1970s.
Prosecutors said that Mr Khalife’s conduct was reckless and could have had serious consequences for Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Mark Heywood KC, the prosecutor, asked Mr Khalife if he understood that “contemplating sending, or sending this document like you told police, could endanger British citizens?” Khalife replied that he did not remember the document in question. In his defence, Khalife claimed that he produced “fake document” to convince the Iranians to trust him.
The trial continues, and the court has heard that when police arrested Mr Khalife and searched his room at the Ministry of Defence Stafford in January 2022, they found many completely fake documents in digital and paper form, purporting to be from MPs, senior military officials, and the security services. Prosecutors said Mr Khalife made sure there was no record of what document was sent. Mr Khalife has pleaded guilty to escaping from Wandsworth Prison last September but denies the other charges.
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