AMMAN, Jordan — Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting, inaccurately said yesterday that Iran was allowing al-Qaida in Iraq fighters into the country to be trained and returned to Iraq.

McCain said it is "common knowledge" that "al-Qaida is going back into Iran and is receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran." He made the comments at a news conference in Jordan; he had made similar comments earlier to radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt.

Iran is a predominantly Shiite Muslim country and has been at pains to close its borders to fighters of the rival Sunni sect, including militants in the Sunni group that since 2004 has been calling itself al-Qaida in Iraq.

Iran has been accused by the U.S. administration of funding, training and arming Iraqi Shiite militants in their uprising against the United States. But there have been no allegations by Washington and no evidence that al-Qaida in Iraq has benefited from Iranian assistance.

After Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who was traveling with McCain, stepped forward to whisper in the candidate's ear, McCain said: "I'm sorry. The Iranians are training the extremists, not al-Qaida. Not al-Qaida. I'm sorry."

McCain, who has linked his political future to U.S. success in Iraq, had just completed his eighth visit to Iraq. He was in the wartorn country on Monday for meetings with Iraqi and U.S. diplomatic and military officials.

McCain's gaffe immediately drew criticism from the Democratic National Committee.

"Not only is Senator McCain wrong on Iraq once again, but he showed he either doesn't understand the challenges facing Iraq and the region or is willing to ignore the facts on the ground," said Democratic National Committee communications director Karen Finney.

McCain also blamed Syria for allegedly continuing to expedite a flow of foreign fighters.

"We continue to be concerned about Iranian influence and assistance to Hezbollah as well as Iranian pursuit of nuclear weapons," McCain said.

He added that as president he would coordinate more with Europe to impose a "broad range of sanctions and punishments" on Tehran, to "convince them that their activities, particularly development of nuclear weapons, is not a beneficial goal to seek."

Later yesterday, McCain began a two-day visit to Israel with a stop at a Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem. As his motorcade pulled up, dozens of tourists greeted him and chanted "Mac is back."