ASTANA  – Kazakhstan announced plans on Monday to effectively nationalize two of its leading banks as the global financial crisis tightened its grip on Central Asia’s biggest economy. The government said it will buy 78.14 percent of shares in the biggest bank, BTA, which has assets of $28 billion. BTA, …

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iranian diplomat underlined his country’s continued activity in the field of civilian nuclear technology, and said that that United States did not have the courage to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. Speaking to reporters at the Iranian Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan on Sunday, Director General of the …

TEHRAN (FNA)- UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei in an interview published on Sunday welcomed recent overtures by US President Barack Obama to engage Iran in talks on its nuclear program. ElBaradei called in an interview with the Washington Post for “a direct dialogue” between Iran and the United States, …