US officer charged with spying for Iran
The U.S. Department of Justice has charged a former U.S. Air Force officer with spying for the Islamic Republic of Iran. Monica Witt is accused of collaborating with Iran's security agency while in Iran.
The US Department of Justice on Wednesday (February 13) indicted a former US Air Force officer for collaborating with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and conducting cyber operations against the United States.
According to the German news agency, Monica Witt, who is 39 years old, went to Iran in 2013. She has been accused by a US federal court of providing highly classified information to the Islamic Republic's Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Monica Witt served as an intelligence officer in the US Air Force Counterintelligence Service for 11 years starting in 1997. The US Department of Justice has issued an arrest warrant for the former US intelligence officer. Ms Witt was sentenced in absentia.
According to the US Department of Justice, Monica Witt had access to top-secret information. She also participated in US counterintelligence missions abroad.
Deputy US Attorney General John Dermers said the complaint against Monica Witt was filed because she “provided highly classified US security information to the Iranian regime and revealed the identity of a US security personnel.”
Monica Witt has participated in two international conferences related to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to the US Department of Justice, Monica Witt has become acquainted with and communicated with the Islamic Republic's security institutions during her trips to Iran.
A US federal court has convicted four Iranians of attempting to infiltrate cyberspace and access information from Monica Witt's colleagues.
The United States has sanctioned two companies, "Net Paygard Samawat" and "Ofq Noor," which were operating in the cyber field.
According to Iranian media reports, “Gholamreza Mozamemi, Hamed Qashqavi, Nader Talebzadeh, and Zeinab Mahna Talebzadeh have been placed on the US Treasury sanctions list due to their connection to the “New Horizon” Institute, and Behzad Masri, Hossein Abbasi, Hossein Parvar, Mojtaba Masoudpour, Milad Mirzabeigi, and Mohammad Bagher Shirinkar have been placed on the US Treasury sanctions list due to their connection to the “Net Paygard Samavat” company.”
