On Thursday, Mr Khalife told the court that his handlers had wanted him to go to the Iranian capital as “it was standard procedure for assets to go to the state”.
He was 18 years old at the time and serving in the British Army.
“I knew the only way I could travel without a visa was by an airline called Mahan Air which is owned by the IRGC,” Mr Khalife told the court, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the Iranian armed forces.
The jury heard that after arriving in Istanbul, he told his handlers that he was too “afraid” to fly to Iran because the aircraft was “30 years old”.
Mr Khalife said that in reality, he was worried there could be consequences if his handlers found out the information he had given them was “entirely fictitious”.
“I felt this would be dangerous,” he told the court.
The trial previously heard that police found “completely fake” documents purporting to be from MPs, senior military officials and the security services in Mr Khalife’s room.
Mr Khalife sent his handlers a video of himself at the Hilton Istanbul Bomonti hotel after they became suspicious he may not have in fact travelled to Turkey.
He said they also sent somebody “to scope [him] out” in a vehicle.
After returning to the UK, Mr Khalife sent his original Iranian contact an audio message which said: “I delivered a package to them, which I don’t think I should tell you – but just don’t mention it to anyone.”
He told the court in London that he had “of course” not delivered a package.
