Maybe. This, though, makes using hiking as an excuse even better as a cover for a spying operation. Because it is far-fetched, but not so far-fetched as to actually be impossible.
Thus, the point remains: read everything with huge doses of salt.
Especially in periods where a state is preparing for some new war, and its officials and its media have shown during the last two wars that they are willing to lie to the public to turn the war engine on.
Well I do know one thing, being a former U.S. Marine of Iranian descent visiting your grandmother is probably the worst cover in the history of espionage.
While a bunch of Americans taking a hike on the Iraq-Iran border is one of the dumbest things to happen in recent history, It isn't beyond the realm of believability. Einstein once said that human ignorance is the only thing that is known for sure to be eternal; this incident was merely another example of this principle. If those kids were really guilty of espionage, I don't think that Iran would have released them at any cost.
Well, visiting your grandmother could be "the worst cover in the history of espionage", but we are used to be fed with tired bad covers. Like the whole hoopla about WMD and Saddam.
This means that one cannot anymore trust something that looks like a total amateur lie to NOT be a lie, thinking that "if they wanted to lie they would have found a better excuse", since they don't really seem to bother anymore.
(Surprisingly, the reverse is also problematic. That is, even if the politicians bothered to only use perfectly crafted covers, then a cover such as this would be good, because of the public thinking "surely, they are not as dumb to use such a crappy cover, so it must be true" effect).
Thus, the point remains: read everything with huge doses of salt.
Especially in periods where a state is preparing for some new war, and its officials and its media have shown during the last two wars that they are willing to lie to the public to turn the war engine on.