The basest showman: Iran slams Israel leader Netanyahu after offer to solve water crisis

Iran has responded to an offer from Israel's prime minister to help alleviate a water crisis facing Tehran, calling the leader a "deceitful showman".

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman on Monday responded to Binyamin Netanyahu's proposal to provide Iranians with expertise to deal with water shortages, the Iranian Fars news agency reported.

"It is not the first time that he makes such remarks. He had better stop the massacre of the Palestinian people and crimes which are committed every day," Bahram Qassemi said, referring to the Israeli killing of over 120 Palestinians since protests broke out along the Gaza border on March 30.

"The Iranian people and government are capable enough to resolve their problems, they do not need such magic tricks."

Qassemi added that Netanyahu was a "deceitful showman", whose comments should not be taken seriously.

The Israeli premier on Sunday addressed Iranians in short video and made what he called an "unprecedented offer" to solve the country's severe water shortages.

"Israel has the know-how to prevent an environmental catastrophe in Iran. I want to share this information with the people of Iran," Netanyahu said, after filling and drinking a glass of water.

"Sadly, Iran bans Israelis from visiting, so we’ll have to get creative. We will launch a Farsi website, with detailed plans on how Iranians can recycle their wastewater," he added.

The message came amid growing tensions between Israel and Iran.

Last month, Israel launched a large-scale attack on what it said were Iranian targets in Syria, raising fears of a major confrontation.

Netanyahu's offer has also been panned on social media with Twitter users criticising Israel for failing to prevent a water crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip, where up to 95 percent of water is unfit for human consumption.

A decade-long Israeli blockade of the Palestinian enclave has denied its two-million strong population of access to fresh water and material to build water facilities.

Iran has long been struggling with severe droughts that threaten food security in the Asian nation.