A UNITED States Air Force veteran turned Iranian spy is causing major headaches for top Western intelligence chiefs who fear she may be the rogue regime’s secret weapon.
Monica Witt, 46, was a decorated counterintelligence specialist in the for over a decade before she was groomed by the bloodthirsty Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Monica Witt, 46, defected to Iran in 2013Credit: FBI
She is a former US counterintelligence offer who has insider knowledge of military operationsCredit: FBI
She defected in 2013, ecstatically sharing news that her Iranian visa had come through with her handler on August 28 alongside a smiley face emoji.
“I’m signing off and heading out! Coming home!” the Texan wrote.
More than a decade later, as America and hit and , insiders fear she may have the power to deal ‘s Operation Fury some damage.
Intelligence bosses believe she could be guiding Iranian military strategy using her inside knowledge of US operations.
Witt’s defection was seen as one of the biggest betrayals in recent American history, given her access to highly-sensitive information about US agents stationed in Iran and their surveillance methods.
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“On a scale of one to ten, I believed she was a seven or eight in terms of the potential for doing damage to the ,” said Douglas Wise, former deputy director of the Defence Intelligence Agency.
Born in El Paso in 1979, Witt enlisted in the Air Force at 18 after the death of her mother and a breakdown in family ties.
She rose through the ranks as a “cryptologic language analyst”, working on electronic surveillance missions and earning multiple honours including the Air Medal.
She studied Farsi in , deployed to in 2002 and later spent nearly six months in Iraq in 2005 during one of the bloodiest phases of the war, where she began studying .
After leaving the military in 2008, Witt worked for several defence contractors and enrolled on a Middle East studies degree at George Washington University in 2011.
Classmates recall a troubled figure who had grown disillusioned with America.
“She would talk about war crimes that she witnessed,” fellow student Cory Ellis told The Times.
Witt was charged in absentia with espionageCredit: Reuters
She remains on the FBI#s most wanted listCredit: AFP or licensors
“She mentioned something about and drone footage from when she was in the air force.
“She was still working as a contractor at the time so she was very cagey about it, but I remember it very distinctly because accusing the US of war crimes you’ve witnessed is not something you just drop lightly in conversation.”
Ellis described her as a loner who repeated Iranian propaganda in class debates.
“She didn’t hang out with anyone after class, like at bars or parties,” he said.
“She was really very nice but also deeply weird.”
Her radical shift accelerated in 2012 when she travelled to Tehran for the International Conference on Hollywoodism, an event later linked by US authorities to the IRGC.
There she met operatives and began plotting her defection, building a relationship with handler Marzieh Hashemi.
During the trip, Witt appeared on Iranian state TV praising Islam, saying she had read the Quran to “help me to better confront the enemy”.
She added that she then “realised that despite what the US military had told us, Islam is not a violent and aggressive religion”.
Back in the US, she adopted a hijab, converted to Islam, and began trying to secure a visa to return to Iran.
“I am endeavouring to put the (military) training I received to good use instead of evil,” she messaged Hashemi in June 2013.
Witt was groomed by Iran’s fearsome Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)Credit: Getty
Tensions in the Middle East are exploding after a strike on Iran’s South Pars gas fieldCredit: Reuters
“If all else fails, I just may go public and do like Snowden :).”
Two months later, her chance came when her visa was approved, and she flew one-way to Dubai and then Tehran.
US authorities later charged her in absentia with espionage, saying she handed over highly sensitive intelligence that put American operations at serious risk.
Iran allegedly rewarded her with housing and equipment to continue her work.
Now, with Iran and , fears are growing that Witt’s insider knowledge is still being used.
Witt remains on the FBI’s most wanted list and has not been publicly seen since 2019.
“It’s funny, when they interview people about serial killers or anyone infamous they always say, ‘This was the last person I would have thought’,” Ellis told The Times .
“But with Monica, I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, all the clues were there’. She fits the mould and the profile of someone who would do this – to a T.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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