AMES, Iowa, USA (AP/ TPMDC) -- Congressman Ron Paul says rival White House hopeful Rick Santorum has his history wrong on Iran, arguing that the United States has been at war with Iran since it helped orchestrate regime change in the 1950s.

Paul and Santorum clashed during Thursday's debate over Iran's nuclear program. Paul says Santorum engages in “war propaganda.” Santorum says Paul is “obviously not seeing clearly” on the subject and does not understand the threats to the country from what he called Islamic militants.

Paul said, “We should at least talk to them (Iranians) – (as) Reagan talked to the Soviets.”

Paul added that during the Cold War the Soviet Union and China had many nuclear weapons and represented genuine threats to the United States, but America did not go to war with those countries, instead maintained diplomatic relations.

This prompted a fiery response from Rick Santorum, who boasted of how he had passed legislation to isolate Iran when he was in the Senate.

“Iran is not Iceland, Ron,” said Santorum. “Iran is a country that has been at war against us since 1979,” and is an “existential threat” to Israel.

Paul responded that conflict between Iran and the United States goes back much further than 1979 -- going to when the United States installed the Shah of Iran in a military coup in 1953, with blowback coming later in the Iranian revolution of 1979.

Santorum responded that Paul sounded like President Obama -- in apologizing for the United States.