Jerusalem (AFP)-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday accused Iran of having a previously undisclosed facility aimed at developing the nuclear weapons it destroyed.

Iran destroyed the facility, located near the town of Abadeh South of Isfahan, sometime between late June and late July after realizing that Israel had discovered it, Netanyahu said.

In his live speech, with pictures of the alleged site on the screen behind him, Netanyahu referred to the intelligence hoard he had previously announced last year.

“Today we are caught that another secret nuclear facility has been discovered in the archives that we brought from Tehran,” Netanyahu said.

“On this site, Iran conducted experiments to develop nuclear weapons… When Iran realized we had discovered the site, this is what they did: they destroyed the site, they just destroyed it.”

The Prime Minister, whose country is a sworn enemy of Iran, did not give more details about the alleged experiments, or when they were allegedly carried out.

Tehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Iranian foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hit back at Netanyahu on Twitter late on Monday, saying that “the owner of REAL nuclear cries wolf – on alleged’ destroyed ‘ site in Iran.”

He accused Israel and its ally the United States in pursuit of the “war”.

Israel has never officially confirmed that it has a nuclear Arsenal, but it is believed to be the only state in the middle East with such weapons.

– ‘Campaign antics’ –

When Netanyahu announced intelligence allegedly obtained from a secret compound in Tehran, he said he had new “evidence” of an Iranian nuclear weapons plan that could be activated at any time.

But while he then accused Iran of lying about its atomic ambitions, he did not provide evidence that Tehran had been actively working to obtain a bomb since a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015.

Netanyahu’s latest statement came just days before Israel’s September 17 election, in which he faced a difficult re-election campaign, with opponents accusing him of politicizing intelligence with a presentation.

“Netanyahu is again using intelligence for his election propaganda, “Yair Lapid of the centrist White-white Alliance wrote on Twitter.

“The Iranian nuclear (issue) cannot be used for election antics.”

Iran is scaling back its commitment to the 2015 deal in response to US President Donald trump’s withdrawal from the agreement and the resumption of sanctions.

Netanyahu came out strongly against the nuclear deal, and then called on trump to get out of it.

Although he opposed the deal, he recently urged European countries to enforce its parameters as he and the United States seek to increase pressure on Iran.

European countries are trying to preserve the nuclear deal.

Meanwhile, speculation over whether trump could soon meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, with the us leader saying earlier this month that “anything is possible.”

But Rouhani last week ruled out holding any bilateral talks with the United States.

Netanyahu said Monday that “I call on the international community to join President trump’s sanctions to put more pressure on Iran.”