FBI offers $200,000 for ex-Air Force agent who allegedly defected to Iran
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The FBI announced Thursday it is offering $200,000 for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of a former active-duty American. air force Air Force Office of Special Investigations intelligence expert and special agent accused of espionage.
Monica Witt, 47, known to use the aliases Fatemah Zarah and Narges Witt, was federally indicted in Washington, D.C., in 2018 and charged with espionage. He is accused of defecting to Iran and handing over classified information to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Here’s what we know about Witt’s alleged switch from American warfighter to suspected Iranian entity:
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Split by Monica Witt, who is wanted by the FBI for sharing sensitive information with Iran. (FBI)
US military service
Witt was born in El Paso, Texas, and joined the Air Force in 1997, shortly after his 18th birthday. according to New York TimesHe was assigned to the RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft crew.
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His 2018 indictment states that he was assigned to the U.S. Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, between 1998 and 1999, where he learned Farsi.
From May 1999 to November 2003, Witt was deployed to “various overseas locations to conduct covert missions collecting signals intelligence.”
He was reportedly deployed to Saudi Arabia in 2002.
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The indictment states that Witt was assigned as an Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) special agent criminal investigator and counterintelligence officer, where he was deployed elsewhere in the Middle East, including Iraq in 2005 and Qatar in 2006.
Monica Witt is believed to be living in Iran, according to FBI officials. (FBI)
He was part of the “Special Access Program” (SAP) that gave him access to classified information, including “details of ongoing counterintelligence operations, the real names of sources, and the identities of U.S. agents involved in the collection of those sources.”
“This SAP was known by a code name within USIC,” the indictment states. “The codename allowed agents to communicate in the open without revealing the true nature of their operations.”
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Witt’s tenure as a member of the Air Force ended in 2008.
Government tenders and training
Witt worked as a government contractor from 2008 to 2010 but worked with AFOSI.
The New York Times reported that Witt earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland in 2008, around the time he left the Air Force. He then enrolled in a master’s program in Middle Eastern studies at George Washington University.
Witt was described by his classmates as “withdrawn” and “alienated” and also spoke of “drone attacks, extrajudicial killings, and atrocities against children.”
It was just before he graduated from George Washington University in February 2012 when the government said Witt had set in motion plans to betray the United States and defect to Iran.
A bridge damaged by US airstrikes is seen in Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, on April 3, 2026. (Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)
He traveled to Iran that month to attend the International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, an anti-Western event “intended to condemn American moral standards and promote anti-US propaganda” during the annual Fajr International Film Festival, according to the indictment.
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During this trip, he is accused of offering his “good offices” to the Revolutionary Guard to establish that he was a reliable source of American national defense intelligence and that he had disclosed government secrets to them.
According to The New York Times, he was not invited to Hollywood but was still allowed to speak. The indictment states that he “identified as a US veteran and made statements critical of the US government, knowing that these videos would be published by Iranian media outlets.”
At the same time his public conversion to Islam was filmed and broadcast on Iranian state television.
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In May, around the time he received his master’s degree, the FBI reached out to Witt and told him that he was a prime target for recruitment by Iranian intelligence officials.
An Iranian flag is raised in the rubble of a police station damaged by airstrikes in Tehran, Iran, on March 3, 2026. (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)
Escape
By then it was too late.
In this case, Witt had fallen into the trap of Iran, that is, a “spotter” who was recruiting men on behalf of a foreign intelligence service.
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The indictment refers to the “lookout” as “Individual A,” and The New York Times says the Louisiana-born journalist is Marzieh Hashemi, a naturalized Iranian citizen and state television broadcaster.
Allegedly, Hashemi went to the United States and shot an anti-Western propaganda film with Witt, which was later distributed in Iran.
According to the indictment, Witt moved from country to country over the next year while working with Hashemi to gain permanent residence in Iran. Part of this time was spent in Dubai and Afghanistan.
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At that time, the FBI released a statement. missing persons declaration As of July 2013, he was believed to be teaching English in Afghanistan or Tajikistan, Witt said.
Iranians set fire to US and Israeli flags at a meeting held to commemorate the victims of the sinking of the Dena navy ship in Tehran’s Enghelab Square on March 17, 2026. (Getty Images)
Text messages between the two describe Iran’s suspicions of Witt and his efforts, including allegations of “quietly infiltrating Russia” and revealing U.S. secrets through WikiLeaks if he could not reach Iran. In one of his messages, Witt clearly stated that he would not go to Türkiye because he was afraid of Türkiye’s extradition agreement with the United States.
However, according to the indictment, on August 25, 2013, Witt sent Hashemi an email titled “My Biochemistry and Work History.” This email contained more “good faith,” a Certificate of Discharge or Discharge from Active Duty form DD-214, and an Islamic “conversion narrative.” The indictment alleges that around the same time, he searched for the names of US intelligence services assets on Facebook.
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On the same day, this email was forwarded to an email address associated with the Iranian government.
On August 28, 2013, he boarded a plane to Iran.
He sent a message to Hashemi: “I give permission and I’m leaving! I’m coming home.”
Drivers pass by the Imam Sadiq (as) mosque, with a giant Iranian flag hanging in front of it, at Palestine Square in Tehran on April 19, 2026. (ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)
Life in Iran
Witt was accused of giving the code name of the Department of Defense SAP to Iranian government officials immediately after his escape.
He is accused of helping create “target packages” for the Iranian government during 2014 and 2015, defined as “a document or series of documents assembled to enable an intelligence or military unit to locate, fix, track and neutralize a threat.”
These “target patches” allegedly contained the names of US counterintelligence agents.
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He is then accused of contacting Iranian hackers and producing malware “designed to capture a target’s keystrokes, access a computer’s webcam, and monitor other computer activity.”
According to the indictment, this technology was used against US intelligence assets identified by Witt. Witt and other defendants devised plans to plant malware on the computers of U.S. military intelligence employees that Witt knew, mostly through Facebook.
Mourners wave Iranian flags and hold a poster of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during a funeral ceremony in Tehran, Iran, on March 11, 2026. (Vahid Salemi/AP)
He was indicted along with four other co-conspirators charged in the hacking operation.
Witt is formally charged with conspiracy to transmit and transmit national defense information to representatives of the Iranian government, transmission of national defense information to representatives of the Iranian government, conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, computer intrusion, aggravated identity theft, and aiding and abetting.
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“Monica Witt allegedly betrayed her oath to the Constitution by defecting to Iran more than a decade ago and providing National Defense Information to the Iranian regime, and likely continues to support their nefarious activities,” Daniel Wierzbicki, special agent in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Counterintelligence and Cyber Division, said in Thursday’s announcement of the $200,000 reward.
“The FBI has not forgotten and believes there is someone who knows something about his whereabouts at this critical moment in Iran’s history. The FBI wants to hear from you so you can help us capture Witt and bring him to justice.”
