Several of the Afghans on the "death list", which was leaked in 2022 and contained names and information about people who had sought asylum in the United Kingdom, are believed to have fled to Iran, escaping the Taliban's Afghanistan. The document also contains information about British soldiers and intelligence employees.
The leak was considered so serious that the British government forbade the media from reporting on it, writes The Telegraph.
A high-ranking Iranian official tells the newspaper that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard asked the Taliban for the list and that a "special committee" has been set up to get hold of the names. Tehran is believed to be focusing on individuals linked to the British MI6.
There have been discussions about cooperation between Tehran and Kabul in this matter, as it can help both countries in negotiations with the West, the source says.
Accused of espionage
In Afghanistan, too, orders have been given to arrest as many as possible from the leaked documents, writes The Telegraph.
Since the twelve-day war between Iran and Israel earlier this summer, Afghans have become increasingly vulnerable. Iran has arrested thousands and mass-deported hundreds of thousands. Espionage allegations have been leveled against the group, and according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, on average, more than 30,000 Afghans per day have crossed the border from Iran to their old homeland since the war in June.
Back in Afghanistan, they face a bleak existence. A quarter of the population is facing acute food shortages, according to the UN Food Agency WFP. The food shortage is expected to worsen due to the mass deportations, which have also taken place from Pakistan.
Generals and colonels
An Afghan man who was on the UK's list and who fled to Tehran after the leak was recently arrested in Iran and deported to Afghanistan.
In Kabul, he is constantly on the run. Every night is spent in a new place, and he fears for his own life and for his wife and children who are still in Iran, he tells The Telegraph.
They can come and kill me at any time, he says, criticizing the United Kingdom for not helping him out of the country when it was taken over by the Taliban in 2021.
They took the cooks, but left generals and colonels. How is that reasonable?
In 2001, the US-led invasion, which the United Kingdom and NATO participated in, ousted the Taliban from power in Afghanistan.
Twenty years later, in 2021, the Western powers left the country under chaotic circumstances. Many Afghans who had cooperated with the West were left behind, despite the serious threat from the hardline Taliban movement that regained power.
Since then, the country has been marked by widespread shortages of necessities and human rights abuses committed by the ruling fundamentalists.
