Iran has asked the Taliban for the ‘kill list’ of Afghans leaked in a catastrophic Ministry of Defence data breach so the Tehran regime can track down MI6 spies, it has been claimed.
Last month, LBC exclusively revealed how a leaked Ministry of Defence (MoD) list exposed the details of thousands of Afghans who had applied for asylum under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) — a scheme that offers sanctuary in the UK to Afghans who supported British military operations during the conflict.
MI6 spies, special forces personnel and members of the SAS were included in the spreadsheet, defence sources have previously told LBC.
The Iranian regime is now hoping to gain access – and it comes as it scrambles to gain leverage over the West ahead of nuclear negotiations this autumn.
A senior Iranian official in Tehran confirmed that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) formally requested that the Taliban government pass over the leaked list, according to the Telegraph.
MI6 intelligence assets will take priority in the search, it is understood.
“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 official is quoted in the Telegraph as saying.
Taliban leadership in Kandahar has also told officers in Kabul to arrest as many people as possible included in the leaked document, using them as leverage to pile diplomatic pressure on the UK, according to the newspaper.
The Taliban has already claimed that it has had the leaked list of Afghans who helped Britain for years and has been hunting down those named.
"We got the list from the internet during the very first days when it was leaked," an official said.
"A special unit has been launched to find them and make sure they do not work with Britain.
"We’ve been calling and visiting their family members to track them down.
“Senior figures in the establishment in Kandahar are pressuring officials in Kabul to find them. They believe these individuals are still working with the British, and say the problem must be dealt with."
Between 80,000 and 100,000 people, including family members of the ARAP applicants, were affected by the breach and could be at risk of harassment, torture or death if the Taliban obtained their data, judges said in June 2024.
The News Agents’ and LBC presenter Lewis Goodall was barred from reporting it and initially forbidden from even informing his editor. Court hearings were held in secret, with even media lawyers excluded from "closed sessions."
The MoD sought and was granted a contra mundum superinjunction — a rare legal order that not only barred publication of the story but also prevented anyone from revealing that an injunction even existed. In court, it was described as “constitutionally unprecedented”.
The injunction was originally presented as a short-term emergency measure to protect lives while the government identified and helped those most at risk.
But subsequent hearings revealed that the number of people the MoD planned on assisting was just 200 individuals, plus their dependents – a fraction of those affected. Eventually, though there is some dispute about the figures, at least 6,900 people have now been brought over as a result of the breach.
So far, around 4,500 people – made up of 900 ARAP applicants and approximately 3,600 family members – have been brought to the UK or are currently in transit through the Afghanistan Response Route.
A further estimated 600 people and their relatives are expected to be relocated before the scheme closes, bringing the total to around 6,900 individuals by the end of the programme.
The MoD says that the cost of the 6,900 who have been brought over because of the data breach will be £800m. But submissions seen in court suggest the total cost of Afghan relocations could now be some £7 billion.
