EU starts nuclear talks with Iran

(BRUSSELS) - The EU's diplomatic chief and the foreign ministers of Germany, Britain and France began nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart in Brussels on Monday with "important points" still to thrash out, officials said.

Iran's Mohammad Javad Zarif flew to Brussels after a five-hour meeting in Switzerland earlier Monday with US Secretary of State John Kerry aimed at pushing through a deal before a March 31 deadline.

"There have been advances but there are still important points which have not been resolved and we will see if we can move forward," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters ahead of the talks.

Federica Mogherini, the foreign policy chief for the 28-member European Union, Britain's Philip Hammond and Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier were also taking part in the meeting.

Mogherini refused to discuss whether the EU was pushing its own separate angle, saying only that "the deal is not agreed until every single part of the deal is agreed on."

The frantic shuttle diplomacy comes as Iran and six world powers push to reach a deal on Tehran's disputed nuclear programme by the end of the month.

Zarif is due to return to Lausanne late Monday for more talks with Kerry on Tuesday when political directors from the countries involved in the negotiations will also arrive.

A senior US official said after the Kerry-Zarif talks earlier Monday that it was unclear whether the outlines of an agreement could be reached by the end of the month.