Romney’s Debate Geography Gaffe: ‘Syria Is Iran's Route To The Sea’ Twitter Reacts

Mitt Romney boggled viewers’ mind during the third presidential debate 2012 on foreign policy when he suggested that Syria is Iran's main route to the sea.

“Syria is Iran's only ally in the Arab world. It's their route to the sea. It's the route for them to arm Hezbollah in Lebanon, which threatens, of course, our ally, Israel. And so seeing Syria remove Assad is a very high priority for us”

Firstly, Iran has direct access to international waters through its large coastline on the Gulf and secondly,  Iran doesn’t border Syria at all! Let’s take a look at the map reveals that shows Iran does not border Syria and it has access to the sea in both its north and south.

Image From: Wikipedia

This is not the first time that Governor Romney has referred to Syria as a country that offers Iran with a route to the sea. In March, Romney said this at AIPAC conference:

"Maybe one of the few bright spots in the Middle East developments in the last year has been the rising of the people in Syria against Assad. Obviously, as you know, Syria is Iran's only Arab ally in the region. Syria is the route that allows Iran to supply Hezbollah with weapons in Lebanon. Syria is Iran's route to the sea," he said, according to the Washington Post.

Romney has also previously mentioned it in Arizona in February. "Syria is their key ally. It's their only ally in the Arab world. It is also their route to the sea"

Romney's geography gaffe has led to some amusing moments on Twitter. Check out:

Geographic illiteracy is a problem, but it's especially serious when it afflicts a potentil US President. #Romney twitter.com/donaldrallis/s…

— Donald Rallis (@donaldrallis) October 24, 2012

To summarize, Romney thinks a landlocked Iran needs Syria to get to the sea, that Great Britain is a country, and we need a lot of ships...

— John Green (@realjohngreen) October 23, 2012

"I don't always storm the beaches of Syria, but when I do, I do it through Iran. With horses and bayonets". - Mitt #Romney

— Kikki Planet (@KikkiPlanet) October 23, 2012

How oh how will Iran find a way to the sea without Syria? is.gd/D9kGy0

— Marc Lynch (@abuaardvark) October 23, 2012

#Romney didn't just fail the Commander-In-Chief test. He also failed 5th grade #geography twitter.com/zpg410/status/…

— Uppity Binder Woman (@zpg410) October 23, 2012

Btw, Syria is not Iran's "access to the sea" as Romney said last night. Iraq is between those two countries. #debate #geography

— Gerald Nicdao (@geraldnicdao) October 23, 2012

Romney said Syria is Iran's route to the sea. Syria doesn't border Iran. Also, Iran has direct access to the Arabian Sea. #geography

— Savraj Singh (@savraj) October 23, 2012

#Mitt Romney skipped geography class that day...#Syria - Iran’s ‘route to the sea’ ? check the map... washingtonpost.com/blogs/election…

— cecilia udden (@ceciliauddenm) October 23, 2012

Pretty scary that a man running for Commander-In-Chief doesn't even know basic geography. #Syria #Iran @mittromney twitter.com/marikatogo/sta…

— debdlund (@debdlund) October 23, 2012

@debdlund @mittromney He sounds like Sarah Palin when she said she can see Russia from Alaska...LOL

— Mrs Ziggy (@MrsZiggy1988) October 23, 2012