The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced a $200,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Monica Witt, a former US Air Force intelligence specialist accused of spying for Iran.
According to the New York Post, Witt, a former US military member and counterintelligence agent, was indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia in February 2019 on espionage-related charges, including allegedly providing national defense information to the Iranian government.
Citing a notice from the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the report said Witt served as an Air Force intelligence specialist and later as a special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. She served in the US military from 1997 to 2008 and subsequently worked as a contractor for the US government until 2010.
US authorities allege that Witt defected to Iran in 2013 and shared sensitive and classified national defense information, as well as details of US security programs, with the Iranian government.
According to the FBI, the alleged disclosures endangered the lives of US personnel and their families overseas. Authorities also claim Witt conducted research on behalf of the Iranian government to help Iranian officials identify and target her former colleagues in the US government.
The FBI said Witt’s defection benefited Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), elements of which are involved in intelligence operations, unconventional warfare, and support for groups designated by the United States as terrorist organizations.
Witt is reportedly fluent in Persian, is believed to be living in Iran, and may use aliases including “Fatemeh Zahra” and “Narges Witt.”
The report added that efforts to locate and prosecute her are ongoing.
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