The Federal Bureau of Investigation is putting up a $200,000 reward for tips that could lead to the arrest and conviction of a former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence officer who allegedly spied for Iran and fled to the country nearly a decade ago.
Monica Witt, indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., in February 2019, faces espionage charges for allegedly handing over classified national defense secrets to the Iranian government. The case has remained open as Witt continues to evade capture, reportedly living in Iran.
Daniel Wierzbicki, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office counterintelligence and cyber division, said in a statement Thursday that Witt “allegedly betrayed her oath to the Constitution” by “defecting to Iran and providing the Iranian regime National Defense Information and likely continues to support their nefarious activities.” He added, “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.”
Witt served as an intelligence specialist and special agent for the Air Force from 1997 to 2008. During that time, she received training in Farsi and was deployed overseas, including to the Middle East, on classified counterintelligence missions, according to the Associated Press. She later worked as a U.S. government contractor until 2010, a role the FBI says gave her access to secret and top-secret foreign intelligence, including the true identities of undercover U.S. personnel.
A Texas native, Witt defected to Iran in 2013 after attending conferences there that the Justice Department described as platforms for anti-Western and anti-American propaganda. She remains at large, and the FBI believes she continues to assist the Iranian regime.
The initial indictment accuses Witt of providing information to Iran that “placed at risk sensitive and classified U.S. national defense information and program,” the FBI said. The bureau further alleged that Witt “intentionally provided information endangering U.S. personnel and their families stationed abroad” and conducted research on behalf of the Iranian regime to help them target her former colleagues in the U.S. government.
The FBI also stated that Witt’s defection has “benefited” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the armed wing of the Iranian regime that the U.S. designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 2019. This reward comes as tensions between Washington and Tehran remain high, with the conflict now in its 12th week and negotiations over Iran’s nuclear stockpile stalled.
The case highlights ongoing concerns about U.S. personnel turning against their country, a trend that has prompted discussions about how whistleblower rewards are reshaping enforcement into a paid-tip market. Meanwhile, broader U.S.-Iran tensions have also influenced defense posture, as seen in Poland’s offer to accept U.S. troops withdrawn from Germany amid transatlantic rifts.
