Iran has described allegations it is hiding a secret atomic warehouse as “an arts and crafts show” made up of photographs from Google Street View.

The official response came after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly that nuclear equipment was being kept near a rug-cleaning business on the outskirts of Tehran.

During his presentation to world leaders on Thursday, Mr Netanyahu held up a poster-board map of the area as he claimed Iranian officials had recently cleared out 15kg of material from the site and “spread it around”.

Mr Netanyahu called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect the site using Geiger counters and urged European countries to abandon the 2015 deal with Iran.

“I am disclosing for the first time that Iran has another secret facility in Tehran, a secret atomic warehouse for storing massive amounts of equipment and materiel from Iran’s secret nuclear program,” he said.

“Why did Iran keep a secret atomic archive and a secret atomic warehouse?” Mr Netanyahu asked. “What Iran hides, Israel will find.”

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif described it as an “obscene charge” and called Netanyahu a “liar who would not stop lying.”

“No arts and craft show will ever obfuscate that Israel is only regime in our region with a *secret* and *undeclared* nuclear weapons program – including an *actual atomic arsenal*”, he tweeted.

“Time for Israel to fess up and open its illegal nuclear weapons program to international inspectors.”

The Iranian representative at the UN said in a rebuttal statement that the Israeli prime minister had a “pathological tendency to tell monstrous lies and distort reality.”

“Exhibiting some photographs of Google Street View, today the Israeli showman claimed that he discovered new nuclear facilities in Iran,” the official added. ”This is yet another false story.”

Mr Netanyahu also accused European leaders of “appeasing Iran” by helping it bypass new sanctions imposed by US president Donald Trump.

Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Show all 10 1 /10 Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Iranian MPs burnt a US flag in parliament after Donald Trump announced America's withdrawal from the nuclear deal. AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal US President Donald Trump displays a presidential memorandum after announcing his intent to withdraw from the JCPOA Iran nuclear agreement in the Diplomatic Room at the White House. Reuters Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Some Iranian MPs reacted after Trumps decision by shouting 'death to America'. AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Iranian lawmakers prepare to burn two pieces of papers representing the US flag and the nuclear deal. AP Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Iran said it will hold talks with signatories to the nuclear deal after Trump's decision to withdraw from the accord, which it branded "psychological warfare". AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Several Iranian MPs stood chanting in the Tehran parliament. AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Iranian MPs burning a US flag AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal President Hassan Rouhani addressed the nation in a televised speech in Tehran. He said he'd send his foreign minister to negotiate with countries remaining in the nuclear deal after Trump's decision to pull America from the deal, warning he otherwise would restart enriching uranium "in the next weeks." Iranian Presidency Office via AP Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Iran's press condemned Trump's withdrawal from a multi-party nuclear deal but was divided over whether Tehran should react with patience or withdraw itself. AFP Iran parliament reacts after Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal Trump announced the US withdrawal from what he called the "defective" multinational nuclear deal with Iran, and said Washington would reinstate sanctions against the Islamic republic. AFP/Getty

“Does anyone seriously believe that flooding Iran’s theocracy with weapons and cash will curb its appetite for aggression?” Mr Netanyahu asked.

“Have these European leaders learned nothing from history? Will they ever wake up?”

Four months ago Israel announced that its intelligence officers had obtained a “half-ton” of Iranian nuclear documents in the Shourabad neighborhood near Tehran.

Israel claimed the documents proved that Iran covered up its nuclear weapons program before signing the 2015 agreement, which loosened sanctions crippling the country’s economy.

In 2012 Mr Netanyahu held up a cartoon picture of a bomb while discussing Iran’s nuclear program before saying ”a red line should be drawn right here” as he added a red line using a marker pen.