Buried in the silly season

With us having recently mentioned the US Espionage Act, a mysterious case involving its British counterpart is reported on in the Times (UK), which likely knows more than it can say --

A British soldier has been charged with passing secret information linked to the military campaign in Afghanistan to Iran, The Times has learnt. Corporal Daniel James, 44, appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London yesterday, charged under Section 1 of the Official Secrets Act with communicating information “useful to the enemy”. The case was considered so sensitive that after the charge had been read out, reporters were told to leave and the remainder of the hearing was held in camera.

No biographical details were given — not even that he is a soldier in the Army — and there was no hint in the charge or in the brief part of the hearing held in public to indicate who “the enemy” was. However, The Times has learnt that the soldier was charged in relation to the passing of confidential information about British activities in Afghanistan to Iran, which shares a border with western Afghanistan, and has a strategic interest and influence in the region.

Corporal James speaks fluent Pashtun, the language of most Afghans, and acts as an interpreter for Lieutenant-General (sic --he's a general) David Richards, the commander of the British contingent of Nato forces in Afghanistan.

Among the points of mystery is why Iran is considered "the enemy" in Afghanistan, since they were glad to be rid of the Taliban. But further speculation is pointless without knowing a little more about the charges.

UPDATE: Predictably, Michael Ledeen offers the perfidious Iran interpretation, assuming that Blair's tougher line on Iran recently was connected to his knowledge of this case. But in terms of the specific case and deciding that Iran is the enemy, which is the cause and which is the effect? For one thing, as far as Afghan President Hamid Karzai is concerned, his country's number 1 enemy is Pakistan.