Monica Witt, a former Air Force counterintelligence specialist, has been wanted since a 2019 espionage indictment.
WASHINGTON, DC — The FBI is offering $200,000 for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of Monica Elfriede Witt, a former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence specialist accused of giving classified defense information to Iran.
The reward announced May 14 renews attention on a case that has remained open for years. Witt, 47, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington in February 2019 on espionage charges, including transmitting national defense information to the Iranian government. She remains at large and is believed by U.S. authorities to be in Iran. The FBI said the case remains active because Witt allegedly exposed sensitive programs and people tied to U.S. intelligence work.
Witt served in the Air Force from 1997 to 2008 and worked as a special agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. She later worked as a U.S. government contractor until 2010. Federal officials said those jobs gave her access to secret and top secret information about foreign intelligence and counterintelligence operations, including the real names of undercover U.S. intelligence personnel. Daniel Wierzbicki, special agent in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Counterintelligence and Cyber Division, said Witt “allegedly betrayed her oath to the Constitution” by defecting to Iran and giving national defense information to the Iranian government.
According to federal officials, Witt defected to Iran in 2013 after earlier travel to the country. Prosecutors have said she attended two all-expense-paid conferences in Iran that promoted anti-Western propaganda and condemned American moral standards. Before she left the United States, FBI agents warned her about her contacts and activities, officials said. Witt told agents she would not provide sensitive information about her work if she returned to Iran, prosecutors said. The indictment later accused her of doing the opposite, alleging that she gave Iran information that put classified U.S. programs and people at risk.
The FBI said Witt’s military and contractor work gave her knowledge that could be useful to a foreign intelligence service. Investigators allege she provided information that endangered U.S. personnel and their families stationed overseas. They also allege she researched former U.S. government colleagues on behalf of the Iranian government so they could be targeted. Officials said her defection benefited the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has units tied to intelligence collection, unconventional warfare and support for groups that target U.S. interests. The FBI has not said publicly where in Iran it believes Witt is living or who may be helping her avoid capture.
The 2019 indictment remains the central legal document in the case. Witt is charged with espionage-related offenses, including transmitting national defense information to representatives of a foreign government. Because she is outside U.S. custody, the case has not moved to a public trial. The reward is for information that leads to her apprehension and prosecution. The FBI said it continues to work with U.S. and international partners to find her. No hearing date has been set, and no arrest has been announced.
The wanted poster released by the FBI lists Witt as a former active-duty Air Force intelligence specialist and former counterintelligence agent. It identifies her by her full name, Monica Elfriede Witt, and says she is also known by other names, including Narges Witt and Fatemah Zahra. The poster includes photographs from different periods of her life, including one in uniform. The FBI said the public focus comes at a critical moment in Iran’s history. Wierzbicki said investigators believe “there is someone who knows something about her whereabouts.”
The renewed search comes during heightened conflict between the United States and Iran. Officials have not said why the FBI chose this week to highlight the case again, and many details remain classified or sealed by the nature of the allegations. What is public is the core claim: A former American counterintelligence specialist with access to sensitive U.S. secrets is accused of crossing over to Iran, sharing defense information and helping target former colleagues.
As of Sunday, Witt remained wanted by the FBI, and the $200,000 reward remained active. The next milestone in the case would be an arrest, a confirmed location or a new court filing in the District of Columbia.
Author note: Last updated May 17, 2026.