The former Air Force intelligence officer charged with spying on behalf of Iran converted to Islam several years ago.
An indictment unsealed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said Monica Elfriede Witt, 39, disclosed information to Iran about U.S. intelligence officers and aided in their cyberspying operations against those officers from January 2012 to May 2015.
Witt converted to Islam in a ceremony that was broadcast on Iranian television in February 2012, the indictment says.
It’s unclear when the conversion took place, but Witt attended a conference sponsored by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp “aimed at condemning American moral standards and promoting anti-U.S. propaganda” the same month her ceremony was broadcast. The IRGC, a group known to carry out terrorist operations, has been sanctioned by the U.S.
In August 2013, as Witt was trying to defect to Iran, she provided a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, who was referred to as “Individual A” in the indictment, with a “conversion narrative” as well as personal information and her work history.
“Individual A” forwarded the documents to an email address linked to Iran, and three days later, Witt defected.
“I’m signing off and heading out!” she wrote to “Individual A.” “Coming home.”
Jay Tabb, executive assistant director for national security at the FBI, told reporters Wednesday that Witt’s “primary motive appears to be ideological.”
The Justice Department believes she still lives in Iran.
