Former soldier accused of espionage Daniel Khalife had a 30-minute telephone conversation with an Iranian agent while stationed at a US military base, a court has heard.

The three calls “rekindled” Iran’s interest in Khalife as an intelligence tool, Woolwich Crown Court heard.

Khalife, who pleaded guilty to escaping prison, is accused of collecting secret information and passing it to agents in the Middle Eastern country while serving in the Royal Corps of Signals.

The 23-year-old was assigned to Fort Cavazos (then called Fort Hood) in Texas between February and April 2021, where he participated in a joint exercise, his lawsuit said.

He told his Iranian contacts that he was at the base, but denied providing them with “specific details” or useful information about what he was doing there.

“The stories I told in those phone calls were false,” Khalife told jurors.

Khalife said Iranian intelligence already knew he was in the United States by tracking his location from his phone.

“They automatically know where I am anyway,” he said.

The former soldier told the court he had to “walk for quite a while” before he was able to find a signal at the 214,000-acre site, and that “the operation was over” at the time of the calls.

While in Texas, Khalife took photos on his phone of passwords, a floppy disk and a USB key used to access sensitive military communications systems, but denied passing them to Iranian agents.

Prosecutor Mark Heywood KC said the telephone conversation with an Iranian agent, known only as “David 2”, had “rekindled their interest” in him.

Khalife denies the charges contrary to the Official Secrets Act and the Terrorism Act, and says he wanted to work as a double agent.

He also denies committing a bomb hoax.

The trial continues.