A picture shows export oil pipelines at an oil facility in the Khark Island, on the shore of the Gulf, on February 23, 2016. (Photo: AFP)

TEHRAN, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian security official said Iran has thwarted a plot to blow up the Iranian oil pipelines in the energy-rich Asalouyeh region in the south of the country, Tasnim news agency reported Monday.

The Iranian "enemy" masterminded the plot to attack the Asalouyeh energy facilities amid the recent violent "riots" in a number of Iranian cities over gas price hike, Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, was quoted as saying.

Shamkhani did not elaborate on a particular country or an entity that sought sabotage against the Iranian oil facilities.