Tehran, April 5 -- Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Sunday claimed responsibility for a series of strategic attacks on energy and petrochemical facilities across the Gulf region, describing them as retaliation for recent strikes on Iranian infrastructure and warning that a second phase of operations would be "more devastating and widespread".

In an official statement carried by Iranian state media, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the IRGC said its naval and aerospace forces launched the 96th wave of Operation Sadeq 4 in response to damage inflicted on Iran's civil infrastructure, including the Karaj B1 Bridge and Mahshahr petrochemical industries.

The operation, the statement said, targeted what the IRGC ...