It was bad enough when Iran left their territorial waters, abducted British sailors, and paraded them on television like a prize dog at the Westminster Show. But the latest release from Iranian officials just, as Briscoe Darling would say on the Andy Griffith Show, “takes the rag off of the bush.”

Iran’s ambassador to London, Rasoul Movahedian, urged Britain to help his country mend their strained international relations. He said that Iran had “showed good will” by freeing the Brits they had kidnapped adding, “Now it is up to the British government to proceed in a positive way. We will welcome in general any steps that could defuse tensions in the region.”

Have you ever heard such impudence, such unmitigated gall? Iran would not have needed to free those sailors had they not shanghaied them to begin with. Let’s put this in perspective.

Your kids are playing in your neighbor’s yard. The neighbor down the street takes your kids and holds them for two weeks, continually displaying them for the media. They are compelled to make statements deriding your family. Finally, your kids are returned. Then a spokesman for the kidnappers appears in the newspaper calling on you to help the family repair their damaged presence in the community. How would you react?

Iran wants a gesture from the United Kingdom? I think I have the appropriate one. It involves an extended finger with the remaining fingers folder neatly toward the palm. It’s the least Iran deserves.