End in sight as nuclear deal nears deadline

Iran's nuclear chief said on Thursday he was "optimistic" about reaching a ground-breaking nuclear deal, as US and Iranian diplomats launched down-to-the-wire talks chasing a March 31 deadline.

"On the whole I am optimistic," Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said in an exclusive interview with AFP on the sidelines of the crunch talks which resumed in the Swiss town of Lausanne.

But he warned "there are those who have an interest in more troubles and not dealing with this question (and they) have not been inactive. They are trying to make sure there is no deal."