Court Hears Khalife’s Fake Document May Have Imperiled Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Testimony presented in court suggests that a former soldier in the British army potentially jeopardized Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s life by transmitting a fabricated intelligence document to Iran. Daniel Khalife, aged 23, faces charges for allegedly dispatching a document, which he produced in 2021, to Iranian agents. This document was titled “Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe intelligence options”. At Woolwich Crown Court, jurors were informed that the fabricated document asserted the British government’s unwillingness to engage in negotiations for her release, following her six-year detention in Iran. While Mr. Khalife admitted guilt to escaping Wandsworth Prison last September, he is currently standing trial for three additional charges, all of which he refutes. These charges encompass gathering and conveying intelligence beneficial to an adversary, specifically Iran; compiling a list of Special Forces personnel names that could aid terrorism; and carrying out a bomb hoax at his military barracks. Mr. Khalife’s legal proceedings commenced last month, and he has been providing testimony for a period of four days. On Tuesday, the jury heard the following statement from Mr. Khalife’s fabricated document: “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.” It also stated: “The UK will not be seen to pay ransoms to hostile nations … terrorists have long used kidnap for ransom.” In 2016, Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, then 46, was apprehended by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard at Imam Khomeini airport in Tehran following a vacation, during which she had brought her daughter Gabriella to visit her parents. She received a five-year prison sentence based on accusations, which she refutes, of conspiring to destabilize the Tehran government. Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe gained her freedom in 2022, subsequent to ministers reaching an agreement to resolve a £400m debt that originated in the 1970s. According to prosecutors, Mr. Khalife’s transmission of the document was a reckless act. The document made reference to an alleged meeting between James Cleverly, who was then a Foreign Office minister, and Ali Bagheri Kani, the Iranian deputy foreign minister. The court was informed that this could have led to “consequences” for Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Prosecutor Mark Heywood KC inquired: “Do you understand that contemplating sending, or sending this document like you told police, could endanger British citizens?” Mr. Khalife stated that he had no recollection of the specific document. A transcript from a police interview, which was previously presented to the jury, showed Mr. Khalife admitting he created “fake documents” with the aim of building trust with the Iranians. Upon his arrest and a search of his room at Ministry of Defence Stafford in January 2022, law enforcement discovered several “completely fake” documents, both digital and physical, that claimed to originate from Members of Parliament, high-ranking military officers, and intelligence agencies, as heard by the court. Prosecutors asserted that Mr. Khalife ensured no record existed of the document’s transmission. The judicial proceedings are ongoing.