Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has issued a stern warning against any escalation in Lebanon following a meeting with the UN Secretary-General António Guterres while also sharply criticising the international body's response to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

In a statement posted on social media platform X, President Pezeshkian said he told the UN chief that the organisation's inaction in the face of what he termed "crimes of the occupying regime" was "meaningless and incomprehensible".

Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon have ramped up attacks across the border, with more than 550 Lebanese killed by Israeli rockets. Hezbollah responded in kind with an "all-out war" with Israel on September 24, Iran's Tehran Times reported. 

"The Islamic world will not allow them to turn Lebanon into another Gaza," Pezeshkian declared, in what analysts interpret as a significant escalation of rhetoric from Tehran regarding the potential spread of conflict in the region.

The Iranian President expressed deep concern about the expansion of hostilities across the Middle East and made the startling claim that 200 UN personnel in Gaza had been killed by Israeli forces. Reuters was not immediately able to verify this figure, and the UN has not publicly confirmed such losses.

Pezeshkian also criticised what he called the silence of the world, particularly Western countries, in the face of what he reported as "41,000 civilian deaths" in Gaza. This figure could not be independently confirmed by IntelliNews.

The President's comments, coming from Iran's highest-ranking elected official, carry significant weight and could signal a potential shift in Iran's stance on the conflict.

Gregory Brew, a Middle East analyst, commented on X: "Iran has had success at marshaling international condemnation of Israel's operation in Gaza, and now appears poised to attempt the same for Lebanon. This doesn't necessarily mean Tehran is planning more substantive support for Hezbollah, but it raises the stakes considerably."

Brew added that Iran's approach could be part of a long-term strategy to isolate Israel diplomatically, even if it results in short-term setbacks for its allies in the region.

"As ever, Iran plays the long game. Losses in Hezbollah, and even a fairly humiliating retreat, may be worthwhile if it further isolates Israel," Brew noted.

The situation remains highly volatile, with tensions escalating across the region as the conflict threatens to engulf neighbouring countries including Turkey and potentially the Syrian regime of Basher al-Assad.