This Is Why All Those Typos Matter - Updated

FLAGGING: The White House adjusts its statement on Iran to say Iran “had,” not “has,” a “robust, clandestine nuclear weapons program that it has tried & failed to hide from the world...” pic.twitter.com/np623Cl02x

— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) May 1, 2018

Apparently the White House is saying it was a "clerical error." No kidding. For perspective, James Fallows weighs in:

May be obvious, but if you haven’t worked in govt or WH, may be hard to appreciate HOW enormous an “error” this is.

It’s like a surgeon amputating the wrong leg. https://t.co/5rJZ01XLMN

— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) May 1, 2018

Tuesday morning update: A statement from a National Security Council spokesman:

The White House did not issue a formal correction, but did offer an explanation. 

"The original White House statement included a clerical error, which we quickly detected and fixed," an National Security Council spokesman told CNN Tuesday. "To be clear, the United States has long known that Iran had a robust, clandestine nuclear weapons program." From CNN, read the story here.