Waverly , Dec. 2 (ANI): Presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann committed a gaffe when she said that she wanted to shut down the non-existent U. S Embassy in Iran, but later moved to say she was speaking hypothetically.

The irony of the statement is that America has not had a diplomatic mission in Tehran since 1980.

Bachmann''s own ''oops'' moment came while applauding Britain''s decision to pull its nationals out of its embassy after students stormed the building in protest earlier this week.

The Daily Mail quoted reports as saying that the GOP presidential candidate told a crowd in Waverly, Iowa, yesterday: "That's exactly what I would do [if I were president]. We wouldn't have an embassy in Iran. I wouldn't allow that to be there."

The U. S. cut all diplomatic ties with the country during a crisis in which 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days between November 4, 1979 and January 20, 1981.

Her gaffe quickly did the rounds online.

Bachmann has previously boasted how she had not made a ''gaffe or something that I''ve done that has caused me to fall in the polls'' and has been defiant in claiming that voters were more concerned about jobs and the economy than an occasional blunder by a candidate. (ANI)