Tehran, Feb 14: Iran's Foreign Minister said on Saturday that his country had the capacity to produce nuclear fuel and was ready to sell it to foreign buyers, the official news agency IRNA reported. "As a country that is capable of producing nuclear fuel, the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to sell it on the international market," Kamal Kharazi said on return from a two-day visit to Rome. While the minister repeated his denials that Iran was seeking to develop nuclear weapons, his comments appeared to suggest Tehran would no longer be honouring a pledge to suspend the enrichment of uranium. "We have no programme to produce nuclear weapons," Kharazi was quoted as saying. "The Iranian people are not ready to compromise on their national interests. No government can relinquish an issue that has gained it national pride, but we are ready to cooperate internationally," he added. Iran is currently working on a bid to generate atomic energy, seen by the United States as a cover for the secret development of nuclear weapons. However, the state of Iran's effort to produce its own nuclear fuel, let alone export it, had been considered limited given the country's effort to acquire such fuel from Russia. Iran only announced in early 2003 that it was beginning to mine its own uranium. In October, it agreed to suspend its work on the nuclear fuel cycle and allow tougher inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Bureau Report