[Kevin in California]

What would drive a person(s) to decide to go hiking in a country as unstable as Iran? What did you expect? There’s plenty of places to hike in the US alone.

Like the saying goes, “you can’t fix stupid!”

[americanophile]

They were hiking in the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq. They have disputed that they ever entered Iran, much less did so intentionally for the purposes of 'spying.' Many tourists go to the Kurdish region, it's really not as unusual as it once was. Moreover, many people, including Americans, routinely travel to Iran, including tourists. I don't think anyone on this forum should be siding with the Iranian government or claiming justification for abducting our citizens and trying them on trumped up charges. We're Americans, we have the right to travel to other friendly countries - including an Iraq we've spent billions to liberate - without fear of being molested by the criminal Iranian government.