Abbas Kazemi told PIN the process of equipping the cars with gas-fueled system had been accelerated, predicting that the number of cars with gas-operated engines would soar to 3.25 million.

He said there were only 120 gas-fueled cars in the country in the previous year while the Fuel Optimization Organization and automakers were obliged to equip 500,000 cars with dual-fuel system each.

According to him, the carmaking companies are duty-bound to produce gas-operated cars as of July 23.

Kazemi said 212 CNG stations were currently working in the country.

He added only 40 thousand CNG tanks were made by domestic manufacturers yearly while the country required about one million and was forced to import them from China, South Korea, Central Asian, Latin American, and European states.

Iran, the Middle East’s biggest carmaker, would stop producing cars that only run on gasoline this month and would instead ensure all new vehicles run on gas too, an official said Saturday.

The announcement follows Iran’s move last month to start rationing gasoline to curb expensive imports the world’s fourth biggest oil exporter must make because it lacks refining capacity to meet domestic demand.

Some cars in Iran, which has the world’s second largest reserves of oil and gas, already run on both gasoline and CNG, but most only use gasoline.

“In two weeks’ time, the production of gasoline-only vehicles will be stopped by the Ministry of Industries and Mines,” the economic daily Jahan-e Eqtesad reported, quoting a deputy industries and mines minister, named only as Hatam.

He did not give details about how the plan would be implemented.

The official IRNA news agency quoted Industries and Mines Minister Mohammad-Reza Tahmasbi as saying cars already on the roads in Iran would eventually become dual-fuel.   

Industry experts say there are more than 25 carmakers in the Islamic Republic, including state-owned or partly state-owned firms. Iran produces a range of light and heavy vehicles.

The biggest carmaker is Iran Khodro which has ventures with foreign firms such as France Renault and China’s Chery Automobile Co. It also produces Peugeot models.

Under the rationing scheme implemented on June 27, private cars can buy 100 liters (22 imperial gallons) of fuel a month -- which many drivers complain is not enough -- at the heavily subsidized price of 1,000 rials (11 U.S. cents) a liter.

Vehicles which run on CNG as well are restricted to 60 liters of gasoline a month. There are no restrictions on CNG, but drivers say there are far fewer pump stations offering CNG.

Economists say heavy subsidies have encouraged waste and a thriving smuggling trade to Iran’s neighbors. But some say that raising prices, rather than setting quotas, will be a more efficient way of curbing usage.