EspionageU.S. charges former Air Force intel officer with spying for Iran

Published 13 February 2019

A former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence officer who defected to Iran six years ago has been charged with spying for the Iranian government and helping Iran target other U.S. intelligence agents. Monica Elfriede Witt, 39, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington on charges of disclosing the code name and classified mission of a U.S. military special access program to the Iranian government. She was also charged with helping Iranian intelligence services in targeting her former co-workers, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.

A former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence officer who defected to Iran six years ago has been charged with spying for the Iranian government and helping Iran target other U.S. intelligence agents.

Monica Elfriede Witt, 39, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington on charges of disclosing the code name and classified mission of a U.S. military special access program to the Iranian government. She was also charged with helping Iranian intelligence services in targeting her former co-workers, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.

Four other Iranians also were named in the indictment and face charges of conspiracy, computer intrusions and identity theft in connection with targeting Witt’s former co-workers in 2014 and 2015. The four men were identified as Mojtaba Masoumpour, Behzad Mesri, Hossein Parvar and Mohamad Paryar.

The four men, using fake social media accounts and working on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, sought to deploy malware that would provide them covert access to the targets’ computers and networks, prosecutors said.

“This case underscores the dangers to our intelligence professionals and the lengths our adversaries will go to identify them, expose them, target them, and, in a few rare cases, ultimately turn them against the nation they swore to protect,” said John Demers, assistant attorney general for national security. “When our intelligence professionals are targeted or betrayed, the National Security Division will relentlessly pursue justice against the wrong-doers.”

Born and raised in Texas, Witt entered on duty for the Air Force from 1997 to 2008 and worked as a contractor from 2008 to 2010. Terry Phillips, a special agent in the Air Force office of special investigations, said Witt began working for the Iranian government after she left the military.

Her actions are “a betrayal of our nation’s security, our military and the American people,” Phillips said during a press call with reporters.

Jay Tabb, the FBI’s executive assistant director for national security, said Witt was ideologically driven.

“She decided to turn against the United States and shift her loyalty to the government of Iran,” Tabb said.

This article is published courtesy of the Voice of America (VOA)