Reports: American Officer Who Defected to Iran Has Inflicted Severe Intelligence Damage to Her Country

The New York Times, citing former U.S. counterintelligence officials, reported that Monica Elfrida Witt, a former member of the United States Air Force who defected to Iran, has dealt severe blows to her country's espionage operations. She is also suspected of leaking the names of dual agents within the U.S. Army's counterintelligence division, and Iran has identified some of these spies. The U.S. Department of Justice has recently charged Witt, who had access to highly classified files in the U.S. Air Force's counterintelligence division. The department states that Ms. Witt traveled to Iran in February 2012 to attend a conference on 'Hollywoodism,' which apparently opened the door for her espionage activities. Ultimately, she fled to Iran in the summer of 2013, but the New York Times report indicates that she also provided valuable information to Iranian agents. The report states that Monica Witt, who has converted to Islam, is accused of revealing the names of eight U.S. Army counterintelligence officers and was aware of how the United States intercepts foreign communications. Additionally, she was informed about the U.S. Army's covert operations in various parts of the Middle East. According to a former senior U.S. intelligence official, when Monica Witt defected to Iran, U.S. intelligence agencies undertook a series of 'defensive measures' to minimize the damage she inflicted. Another former U.S. security official stated that if he were to rate her sabotage on a scale of 1 to 10, he would consider a score of 7 or perhaps 8 appropriate. Monica Witt served as a counterintelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force from 1997 to 2008 and then worked as a contractor for this division for two more years. Her case is also linked to two Iranian companies, 'Ofogh No' and 'Net Paygard Samavat,' both currently under U.S. sanctions. Ofogh No is associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and was the organization that held the 'Hollywoodism' conference in Iran.