Iranian-backed “sleeper cells” are in the United States and waiting for the word to attack, experts told Congress on Thursday.

“The answer is absolutely. We do face a threat,” said Emanuele Ottolenghi, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who spoke at a hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee’s subcommittee on counterterrorism and intelligence. “Their networks are present in the United States.”

“Iran’s proxy terror networks in Latin America are run by Tehran’s wholly owned Lebanese franchise Hezbollah,” he said, the Washington Free Beacon reported. “Their presence in Latin America must be viewed as a forward operating base against America’s interest in the region and the homeland itself.”

Ottolenghi said the sleeper agents enter America by posing as immigrants who develop legitimate businesses that are a front for their other activities.

The warning came as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that the terrorist organization is ready to rumble if America wants a fight. – READ MORE