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11:26 07.08.2025 •
Tehran hopes to use Afghans who helped Britain, ‘The Telegraph’ reveals.
Leaders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have asked the Taliban for access to a leaked list of Afghans who helped Britain so they can hunt down MI6 spies.
The Tehran regime hopes to examine the list of nearly 25,000 Afghans who worked with British forces as they seek leverage with the West ahead of nuclear negotiations this autumn.
The so-called “kill list” contains the names of Afghans who were applying for asylum, including soldiers who had worked with the British Army, intelligence assets and special forces. Some are believed to have subsequently fled to Iran.
In a sign that the two sides are already collaborating, at least one Afghan whose name was allegedly on the list has been deported from Iran to Kabul in the past few days.
A senior Iranian official in Tehran confirmed that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had formally requested that the Taliban government share the leaked list. It is understood that MI6 intelligence assets will take priority in the 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.”
The Telegraph understands that Taliban leadership in Kandahar has also ordered officers in Kabul to arrest as many individuals as possible from the leaked document to use them as leverage in exerting diplomatic pressure on London.
The database 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.
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 2021 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.
A Taliban government official told The Telegraph that they obtained the spreadsheet in 2022.
Speaking to this newspaper last month, he said: “After the reports were published in England, it became clear how significant this leak was. The order is to arrest as many individuals as possible to use them as a tool of diplomatic pressure against England.”
The IRGC’s demand comes after Britain, France and Germany threatened Tehran with a so-called snapback mechanism, which would restore UN Security Council resolutions against Iran, if no progress is made on negotiations over its nuclear programme by August 30.
Iranian authorities want to check borders and detain Afghans in Iran whose names appear on the list, with particular focus on those who worked as intelligence operatives, according to the Iranian official.
The Telegraph has revealed that former Taliban members were brought to the UK on British evacuation flights from Afghanistan after the leak.
The individuals were flown out for their safety, but among them were suspected jihadists, sex offenders, corrupt officials, and people previously jailed by US-led forces – raising concerns over poor vetting.
Johnny Mercer, the former Conservative veterans minister who served in Afghanistan, called the leak “gut-wrenching.”
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