The FBI is offering a $200,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of former US Air Force counterintelligence specialist Monica Elfriede Witt, who is wanted on espionage charges related to Iran, the bureau announced.
Witt, 47, was indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2019 on charges including transmitting national defense information to the Iranian government. She remains at large.
The FBI said Witt defected to Iran in 2013 and is believed to have provided classified information to the regime in Tehran.
“Witt allegedly betrayed her oath to the Constitution more than a decade ago by defecting to Iran and providing the Iranian regime with national defense information, and likely continues to support their nefarious activities,” Daniel Wierzbicki, special agent in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Counterintelligence and Cyber Division, said.
“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,” he added.
Witt served in the US Air Force from 1997 to 2008, where she was trained in Farsi and deployed abroad on classified counterintelligence missions, including in the Middle East. She later worked as a Defense Department contractor.
According to US authorities, Witt defected after attending two all-expenses-paid conferences in Iran that the Justice Department said promoted anti-Western propaganda and condemned American values.
Before returning to Iran, Witt had been warned by the FBI about her activities, prosecutors said. She allegedly told agents that she would not provide sensitive information about her work if she went back to the country.
The FBI said Witt placed “sensitive and classified US national defense information and programs” at risk.
“Witt allegedly intentionally provided information endangering US personnel and their families stationed abroad,” the bureau said. “She also allegedly conducted research on behalf of the Iranian regime to allow them to target her former colleagues in the US government.”
The renewed FBI appeal comes amid mixed reports over the fragile ceasefire between Tehran and Washington. US President Donald Trump claimed Friday that the United States and Iran had reached multiple understandings, which Tehran later refused to acknowledge. Trump also said he would accept an agreement under which Iran halts uranium enrichment for 20 years.
