Iran is said to have asked the Taliban for access to the list of Afghans who helped the UK which was leaked in order to hunt down British spies.
Leaders of Iranian Revolutionary Guards have said they are keen to examine the list in order to seek leverage against the West ahead of upcoming nuclear negotiations.
The so-called “kill list” comprises nearly 25,000 Afghans who worked with British forces and were applying to a UK scheme giving them sanctuary.
This includes soldiers who had worked with the British Army, intelligence assets and special forces, some of which are believed to have subsequently fled to Iran.
It is understood that MI6 intelligence assets will be a priority in Iran’s search.
A senior Iranian official has confirmed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had formally requested the Taliban government share the list, according to The Telegraph.
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.”
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Iran is said to have asked the Taliban for access to the leaked list of Afghans who helped the UK in order to hunt down British spies
At least one Afghan whose name allegedly appeared on the list has been deported from Iran to Kabul in the past few days, representing a sign the two sides are already working together.
It is believed that Tehran plans to use names as leverage after Britain, France and Germany threatened the country with a so-called snapback mechanism.
The measure would restore UN Security Council resolutions against Iran, if no progress is made by August 30 regarding ongoing negotiations over the country’s nuclear programme.
The Iranian official said: “There is an urgency to find as many of them as possible before the snapback deadlines arrive to use them as backdoor bargaining tools.”
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Officers in Kabul have received orders from the Taliban government to arrest as many individuals on the list as possible
Similarly, it is understood officers in Kabul have received orders from the Taliban government to arrest as many individuals on the list as possible in order to exert political pressure on the UK.
The list in question was in the centre of UK news last month after it was revealed following a 23-month secret legal battle.
The database was leaked by mistake in February 2022 when a defence official emailed the entire file to Afghan contacts in Britain, rather than only sending a small extract.
The information was then revealed to the public on July 15 after a super-injunction was lifted by a High Court judge.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said: “We take the safety of our personnel very seriously and personnel, particularly those in sensitive positions, always have appropriate measures in place to protect their security.”
The MoD added: “It’s a longstanding policy of successive governments to not comment on intelligence matters but this once again underlines how serious the original data breach was and why the previous government have serious questions to answer about how this was ever allowed to happen.”
As a result of the leak, thousands of Afghans are set to sue the MoD.
In July it was understood that 900 Afghans were set to receive legal support, with their lawyers claiming thousands more could join them.
Some people on the list only discovered their details had been made public after the super-injunction was removed.
