According to Mitt Romney Syria is Iran's "route to the sea", which is one of the reasons Tehran sees Damascus as such an important ally.
Is it? Well. It if you ignore all that other wet blue wobbly stuff on the northern and southern borders of Iran and make sure to miss out Iraq to west, then yes.
Last night's debate was not the first time Romney has made the claim, but his campaign told The Washington Post in September that the Governor was referring to access to the Mediterranean.
“It is generally recognized that Syria offers Iran strategic basing/staging access to the Mediterranean as well as to terrorist proxies in the Levant. This is a large reason why Iran invests so much in Syria," the campaign said.