US Ambassador to the United Nations Dorothy Camille Shea on Friday blamed Israel for spreading chaos and terror before realising it was a Freudian slip. Ms Shea then corrected herself, replacing "Israel" with "Iran".
During her speech at a UN Security Council meeting, Ms Shea said, "Israel's government has also spread chaos, terror, and suffering throughout the region."
Next, she paused awkwardly for a second, realised her mistake, and corrected, "Iran's government has also spread chaos, terror, and suffering throughout the region."
Ms Shea further said the G7, earlier this week, said Iran was the principal source of instability and terror in the Middle East.
She added, "While the United States was not involved in Israel's strikes, let there be no doubt that the United States continues to stand with Israel and supports its actions against Iran's nuclear ambitions."
The video quickly went viral, leading to a flurry of comments and mockery on social media.
Journalist Margarita Simonyan posted the clip with the caption, "It's always foreign policy that brings out Freudian slips in American officials. Curious."
Economist Adam Ismail also shared the video, stating, "Whoops! This must be the mother of all Freudian slips. The US representative of the UN Security Council calls Israel a terrorist state."
One person commented, "Oops. The mask slipped. Even the US couldn't hide it this time that Israel has spread chaos, terror, and suffering."
This is not the first time that a US official has made an accidental remark against Israel.
Earlier, in 2024, former US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller faced harsh criticism after he said that Israel had the right to target civilians, instead of Hamas fighters.
On Saturday, Israel and Iran continued their aerial assault on each other, with Tehran saying it wouldn't negotiate its nuclear programme while faced with threats. This came after US President Donald Trump said he may support a ceasefire between the two regional arch-foes "depending on the circumstances".
