The FBI’s Washington Field Office on Thursday announced a $200,000 reward for information leading to the capture of a former U.S. intelligence official who is wanted on charges of spying for Iran.
Monica Witt, a former U.S. Air Force intelligence specialist, remains the subject of federal espionage charges related to allegations that she provided national defense information to the government of Iran.
Witt, 47, was described by the bureau as a white female, approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing about 120 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. She is known to speak Farsi and may use the aliases Fatemah Zahra or Narges Witt.
According to the bureau, she is believed to be residing in Iran.
Witt served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force from 1997 to 2008 as an intelligence specialist and special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. She later worked as a U.S. government contractor until 2010.
During her military service and contracting period, she held high-level security clearances that provided access to “SECRET” and “TOP SECRET” information concerning foreign intelligence and counterintelligence activities. This included knowledge of the true names of U.S. intelligence community undercover personnel.
She obtained the information by participating in classified counterintelligence missions overseas.
In February 2012, Witt traveled to Iran to attend the Iranian New Horizon Organization’s “Hollywoodism” conference, an event sponsored by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). She then defected to Iran in August of the following year.
According to the indictment, Iranian government officials subsequently provided her with housing and computer equipment. The allegations state that she disclosed classified U.S. national defense information to representatives of the Iranian government, including the code name and classified mission of a U.S. Department of Defense Special Access Program
The program contained details of ongoing counterintelligence operations, true names of sources, and identities of U.S. agents involved in source recruitment. She is also alleged to have conducted research on U.S. intelligence personnel she had previously known and to have drafted “target packages” against them.
These actions allegedly placed at risk sensitive and classified U.S. national defense information and programs, as well as U.S. personnel and their families stationed abroad.
The indictment charges Witt with one count of conspiracy to deliver national defense information to representatives of a foreign government and two counts of delivering national defense information to representatives of a foreign government, specifically to the government of Iran. An arrest warrant was issued following the indictment.
The same charging document also included charges against four Iranian individuals for a cyber campaign that allegedly targeted members of the U.S. Intelligence Community, including Witt’s former colleague
Witt’s defection is described by authorities as having benefited the IRGC, which maintains elements responsible for intelligence collection, unconventional warfare, and support to terrorist organizations targeting U.S. citizens and interests.
“Monica Witt allegedly betrayed her oath to the Constitution more than a decade ago by defecting to Iran and providing the Iranian regime National Defense Information and likely continues to support their nefarious activities,” said Daniel Wierzbicki, special agent in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Counterintelligence and Cyber Division, when announcing the new reward Thursday.
“The FBI has not forgotten and believes that during this critical moment in Iran’s history, there is someone who knows something about her whereabouts. The FBI wants to hear from you so you can help us apprehend Witt and bring her to justice.”
