Tehran threatens UK for helping Israel down Iranian missiles

Iran has threatened the UK after it helped aid Israel in shooting down an Iranian barrage of drones and missiles in April.

Esmail Qaani, head of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) - the foreign arm of the organisation - also issued warnings to France and Germany for taking part in the military action.

"All criminals should know that their actions and crimes have been recorded. France, Germany, and England should not think that that night they came, brought their planes, and left, the matter was over and done with," he was quoted as saying by Iran International.

"Yes, that night ended, but their accountability remains."

Iran fired around 300 drones and missiles at Israel in retaliation on 19 April in retaliation for an earlier Israeli strike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus that killed eight IRGC personnel.

This included the head of the paramilitary group's military operations in Lebanon and Syria Mohammad, Reza Zahedi, and his deputy Mohammad Hadi Hai Rahimi.

"The victory is not about the missiles and drones that reached the occupied land. Many secrets are hidden within this operations, which will take a long time to unravel," Qaani said, who replaced the formed head of the Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, in 2020 after his assassination in a US airstrike.

Iran's barrage of drones and missiles saw a large intervention force from the US, UK, France, Germany and Jordan help Israel shoot down drones and missiles. 

According to The Wall Street Journal, Saudi Arabia and the UAE also shared intelligence with the US and Israel ahead of the attack.

Following the strikes, Israel reportedly conducted a covert retaliation against targets around the Iranian city of Ifsahan.

Tension between Iran and Israel, as well as the US, has been rising since October after a Hamas attack on southern Israel killed 1,200 people, with Israel's subsequent war on Gaza killing 35,303 Palestinians.

Hezbollah and Israel have been fighting on the Israel-Lebanon border since October, while Iran-backed militias in Syria and Iraq have been firing rockets and drones at both Israel and US bases in both countries.

In addition, Yemen's Houthi movement have also been targeting Israeli-linked shipping traveling through the Red Sea, leading to US and UK airstrikes against the group.