Bachmann clarifies Iran embassy comments

Posted at 9:08 PM on November 30, 2011 by Catharine Richert
Filed under: Campaign 2012, Michele Bachmann

At a campaign stop in Iowa Wednesday, Rep. Michele Bachmann reportedly said that, as president, she wouldn't allow an embassy in Iran.

Trouble is, there is no U.S. embassy in Iran. The United States severed diplomatic ties with that country in 1980 as a result of the Iran hostage crisis.

Bachmann's statement started making the rounds on Twitter late Wednesday afternoon.

Later in the evening, Bachmann's spokeswoman Alice Stewart sent out a response to clarify the congresswoman's statement.

"Congresswoman Bachmann is a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence and is fully aware that we do not have an embassy in Iran and have not had one since 1980. She was agreeing with the actions taken by the British to secure their embassy personnel and was speaking in the hypothetical, that if she was President of the United States and if we had an embassy in Iran, she would have taken the same actions as the British. Her remarks are being taken out of context, given that she has spoken on this subject several times in the past 24 hours and made it clear that she knew we did not have an Iranian embassy. As she has previously stated, President Obama has taken his eye off of Iran, the most significant security threat in the region, and allowed them the luxury of time to move toward obtaining nuclear weapons. She will never allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons that would threaten our ally Israel and the United States."

The clarification is a rare move for Bachmann, who has made multiple misstatements as a member of Congress and as a Republican presidential candidate.

Services

• Hourly Newscast
• HD Radio
• iPhone App / Mobile
• E-mail newsletters
• RSS feeds
• Podcasts
• Submit your photos
• Videos
• Weather
• Most e-mailed stories