TEHRAN -- President Mohammad Khatami while inspecting the exhibition for compressed natural gas (CNG) combustion industries said that from now on cars operating on alternate fuel will be mostly produced in Iran.

Speaking after the exhibition the president said that from now on all domestically-manufactured cars will use both gasoline and natural gas.

He said that gradually all cars would be natural gas-operated.

He added that the goal of the move is to help keep the environment clean and save on expenses.

On the one hand, said President Khatami, Iran has the world's second largest reserves of natural gas, which has keen buyers abroad, while on the other hand, the country has to import other oil derivatives, like gasoline.

He said the government would make every effort to implement this major project of converting car engines to natural gas-operated system.