Leaders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have approached the Taliban for access to a leaked list of Afghans who assisted British forces, in a bid to hunt down suspected MI6 spies.
The Tehran regime is reportedly keen to scrutinise the list of nearly 25,000 Afghans who worked with British personnel, hoping to use the information as leverage ahead of nuclear negotiations with the West scheduled for this autumn, reports The Telegraph.
The so-called “kill list” contains the names of Afghan nationals who applied for asylum, including soldiers who served alongside the British Army, intelligence assets, and members of special forces. Some individuals on the list are believed to have escaped to Iran.
In a sign of growing cooperation between the two regimes, at least one Afghan whose name was allegedly included has recently been deported from Iran back to Kabul.
A senior Iranian official in Tehran confirmed that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had formally asked the Taliban government to share the leaked document. It is understood that MI6-linked intelligence assets will be prioritised in their search.
He said: “On the Iranian side, there are also efforts to find the list, with a special committee assigned for it. There have been discussions on cooperation between Tehran and Kabul on this issue as it can help both countries for negotiations with the West.”
It is understood that Taliban leadership in Kandahar has instructed officials in Kabul to arrest as many people from the leaked list as possible, using them as diplomatic bargaining chips with London.
The sensitive database was accidentally leaked in February 2022 when a Royal Marine mistakenly emailed the entire file to Afghan contacts in Britain rather than just a small extract.
The spreadsheet included names, phone numbers and email addresses of Afghan soldiers, government officials and family members seeking relocation under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy after Western troops withdrew in 2021.
The list also reportedly contained identities of over 100 British special forces personnel and MI6 operatives who had supported Afghan applicants.