Iran’s revolutionary guards are hunting British spies using a leaked Ministry of Defence list provided by the Taliban, APA reports citing The Telegraph.
A group of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials flew to Kabul last week to discuss a cooperation deal with Taliban leadership, according to senior Iranian and Afghan officials.
The officials, whom sources said travelled to Afghanistan without the knowledge of Tehran’s civilian government, wanted to use the list to capture suspected spies to use as bargaining chips in discussions with the West over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme.
In return, the Taliban is seeking recognition by Iran as the new official rulers of the war-ravaged country.
The leaked database contains names of Afghans who applied for asylum in Britain, including soldiers who worked with the British Army, as well as intelligence assets and special forces personnel. Some on the list are believed to have fled to Iran to escape Taliban reprisals.
A senior Iranian official, speaking from Tehran, said that four IRGC officials had travelled to Kabul. “They promised the Taliban that they would pressure the government [in Tehran] to expedite their recognition,” the official said.
“The Taliban gave them the list. They want to find British spies before the ‘snapback’ to have something to pressure London behind closed doors.”
‘The focus is just on British spies’
Iranian border forces have arrested several people whose names appeared on the leaked list in recent days, The Telegraph understands.
“Many were released because they were only former Afghan soldiers, while others are being held for further checks,” they said. “The focus is just on British spies.”
The move comes after Britain, France and Germany threatened Iran this week with crippling economic sanctions if it does not begin talks to renew its nuclear programme by the end of August 2025.
A 2015 nuclear deal provided Iran’s economy relief from nearly a decade of trade and banking restrictions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear enrichment program designed to prevent development of nuclear weapons.
On Wednesday, the European powers told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres they were prepared to trigger a “snapback” mechanism – reimposing all UN sanctions that existed before the 2015 agreement – if Iran fails to act by the deadline, though they offered an extension if Tehran complies. The 2015 deal expires on October 18.
The official added: “The IRGC is doing everything it can to find bargaining chips for talks before the deadline.
“The government has little idea of what they’re doing and [the IRGC] fears that, after the war and all the damage, Iran will enter negotiations from a position of weakness.”
‘Modified’ list given to Revolutionary Guard
The Telegraph revealed earlier this month that the IRGC had officially asked the Taliban for the list.
The so-called “kill list” was accidentally leaked in February 2022 when a Royal Marine emailed the complete file to Afghan contacts in Britain instead of sending a small extract, according to sources familiar with the incident.
The spreadsheet contained names, telephone numbers and email addresses of Afghan soldiers, government workers and family members who applied to relocate to Britain under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy after the Western military withdrawal.
The list also included identities of more than 100 British special forces personnel and MI6 operatives who had vouched for Afghan applicants seeking relocation.
The Taliban’s decision to share the database followed internal deliberations within its leadership in Kandahar.
A senior Taliban official said some faction members opposed cooperation with Iran because of Tehran’s mistreatment of Afghan refugees. However, the prospect of Iranian recognition ultimately swayed the decision.
