Iran's Route to the Sea

Mitt Romney, in last night's Presidential Debate:

Syria is Iran's only ally in the Arab world. It's their route to the sea.

Erm, Mitt, they call it the Persian Gulf for a reason!

As you can see from the map above, Iran's 800-long southern border lines on the Persian Gulf, which is part of the Indian Ocean.  And as you can see, Syria and Iran aren't contiguous. Iraq lies between the two countries.

That doesn't phase Mr. Romney, though. He's made the erroneous claim many times. He stands by it.