Iran’s revolutionary guards are hunting British spies using a leaked Ministry of Defence list provided by the Taliban, The Telegraph has learnt.

For the short term, Iran will prefer quiet security and intelligence cooperation with the Taliban rather than overt recognition.

Amid a major diplomatic push by China across South Asia, Beijing is looking to strengthen ties between the two neighbors at an August 20 trilateral meeting in Kabul where it will discuss integrating Afghanistan into the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Iran is hunting down British spies included in the ‘kill list’ leaked in a Ministry of Defence (MoD) data breach that was accessed by the Taliban, a report has claimed.

In the four years since the Taliban took control of Kabul, millions of Afghans who initially fled have now been expelled from Iran and Pakistan.