Former vice president and presidential hopeful Joe Biden confused Iraq and Iran twice while on the campaign trail Tuesday, one gaffe occurring during what was supposed to be a major foreign policy speech rebuking President Donald Trump's decision to strike and kill terrorist military leader Qassem Soleimani.

"Iran's parliament, Iran's parliament voted to eject all Americans and coalition forces from the country," Biden said during the speech in New York, just two days after the Iraqi parliament, not Iran's parliament, voted to expel U.S. troops stationed in the country.

In what was billed as a major foreign policy speech, Biden confuses Iraq and Iran. pic.twitter.com/xMWkRdkq7G

— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) January 7, 2020

In the speech, which was reported to be the second major foreign policy address of his campaign, Biden lambasted Trump as "dangerously incompetent and incapable of world leadership."

Not once, but twice



But that was not the only time Biden mistook the two Middle East countries for each other. Earlier in the day, the Democratic presidential front-runner mixed the two countries up as he expressed fears that Trump would lead the U.S. into a new war "with Iraq."

"I said not long ago that as the walls close in on this president, I worried that he was going to get us in war with Iraq," Biden remarked.

Also, per pooler @ShaneGoldmacher, Biden twice appeared to misspeak, saying 'Iraq' instead of 'Iran':



"I said not long ago that as the walls close in on this president, I worried that he was going to get us in war with Iraq, as the ultimate wag the dog...'' Biden said.

— Trip Gabriel (@tripgabriel) January 7, 2020

The Washington Examiner reports: "U.S. troops have been stationed in Iraq, which borders Iran, since 2003. Biden voted in favor of military action in Iraq in 2002 but has since falsely claimed that he opposed the effort 'from the moment' the March 2003 invasion started."

Surely, Iraq and Iran's phonetical similarities present a daunting challenge to any speaker, but Biden, who often boasts his foreign policy chops, should be expected to distinguish between the two.

The Washington Free Beacon notes that gaffes like the ones highlighted in this article have become commonplace for the 77-year-old candidate. Last December, Biden appeared to forget where he was on the campaign trail. Before then, he mistakenly said Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated in the late 1970s, instead of the late 1960s.

According to Axios, Biden blames the gaffes on fatigue.