Who Is Monica Witt? FBI Places $200K Bounty on Former US Counterintelligence Agent Who Defected to Iran

The FBI has offered a $200,000 (£149,000) reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of Monica Witt, a former US Air Force counterintelligence specialist now accused of spying for Iran and believed to be living there, the bureau's Washington Field Office confirmed on Thursday 14 May 2026.

According to the bureau, Witt remains at large, is believed to be in Iran and is still being sought in connection with espionage charges first brought in 2019.

Monica Witt: From US Intelligence Insider To FBI Most Wanted

According to the FBI's own case summary, Monica Elfriede Witt is not some marginal figure who brushed past classified material by chance. She served on active duty in the US Air Force from 1997 to 2008 as an intelligence specialist, and later worked as a government contractor until 2010, including as a special agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

That career gave Witt access to secret and top secret information on foreign intelligence and counterintelligence operations. The FBI says the data she handled included the true identities of US intelligence personnel working under cover, arguably one of the most sensitive categories of information in the American system.

Prosecutors allege that three years after leaving government contracting, in 2013, Witt crossed over entirely. The indictment claims she defected to Iran and began providing information to Iranian officials, 'placing at risk sensitive and classified US national defence information and programmes.'

She is accused of going further than leaking documents, allegedly conducting research for the Iranian state designed to help its security apparatus identify and target her former colleagues and their families overseas.

Monica Witt: FBI Profile Of A Fugitive Spy Now Believed To Be Hiding In Iran

The FBI notice paints a sparse but pointed portrait. Witt was born on 18 April 1979 in El Paso, Texas. She is described as around 5ft 6in tall and weighing roughly 120lb, with brown hair and brown eyes.

Agents say she speaks Farsi and is 'residing in Iran at this time.'

The most recent FBI posting acknowledges that she may be using aliases, listing 'Fatemah Zahra' and 'Narges Witt' as known alternative names in one release, while another notice says she has no other alias.

Witt remains at large. There is no extradition treaty between Washington and Tehran, and the United States has no diplomatic relationship with Iran that might make a formal handover likely.

FBI Steps Up Hunt For Monica Witt As Officials Warn She May Still Be Aiding Iran

The new reward announcement is the latest sign that investigators still want this case in the public eye.

'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, in a statement tied to the new reward.

The bureau explicitly links Witt's alleged assistance to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran's powerful security force.

In its public notice, the FBI argues that her defection has 'benefited' elements of the IRGC that handle intelligence collection, unconventional warfare and what Washington describes as direct support to terrorist organisations targeting US citizens and interests.

Wierzbicki framed the timing bluntly. '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 said, urging anyone with information to contact the bureau. 'The FBI wants to hear from you so you can help us apprehend Witt and bring her to justice.'

Witt has been wanted by US authorities for years. A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia indicted her in February 2019 on multiple espionage charges, including transmitting national defence information to the Iranian government.

She was already on the FBI's wanted list, but the fresh reward signals a renewed push to flush out leads in a case that officials clearly think still matters on the battlefield of intelligence and influence.