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Walker, 40, was a passenger in a Porsche sports car driven by a friend - who also died - when it crashed north of Los Angeles.

Walker was said to be attending a charity event at the time.

He starred in all but one of the films in the Fast & Furious franchise, the sixth of which opened in May.

Walker also starred in the suspense drama Hours, a movie that is set for release this month.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's department said the crash happened in the community of Valencia.

It said deputies found a car engulfed in flames when they responded to a report of a collision. Two people found in the car were pronounced dead at the scene.

Images showed the burned-out wreckage of a red Porsche by the side of the road.

"It is with a truly heavy heart that we must confirm that Paul Walker passed away today in a tragic car accident while attending a charity event for his organisation Reach Out Worldwide," the statement on the actor's Facebook page said.

"He was a passenger in a friend's car, in which both lost their lives. We... are stunned and saddened beyond belief by this news.''

Universal Pictures also issued a statement, saying studio staff were "heartbroken" by Walker's death.

"Paul was truly one of the most beloved and respected members of our studio family for 14 years, and this loss is devastating to us, to everyone involved with the Fast & Furious films, and to countless fans.

"We send our deepest and most sincere condolences to Paul's family."

Walker played undercover agent Brian O'Conner in the Fast & Furious movies.

The first film of the franchise was released in 2001 and the seventh is in development.

Walker was one of the leading protagonists, along with Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez.

Diesel said in a post on Instagram: "Brother I will miss you very much. I am absolutely speechless. Heaven has gained a new Angel. Rest in Peace."

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday he hoped an agreement on Iran's disputed nuclear program would be signed within months and London and Tehran revived diplomatic ties, signs of a warmer atmosphere between the Islamic Republic and the West. 

In a further indication of cooperation, the United Nations nuclear watchdog reached an agreement under which Iran will grant UN inspectors access to more nuclear facilities. 

Iran and six world powers - the United States, Britain, Russia, France, China and Germany - came close to a preliminary nuclear agreement at the weekend during talks in Geneva and decided to resume negotiations on November 20 in their attempt to defuse a decade-old standoff. 

"This is not a race to complete just any agreement," Kerry told a news conference during a visit to the United Arab Emirates. However, he added: "Through diplomacy we have an absolute responsibility to pursue an agreement." 

While saying that a deal with Iran was expected within months, Kerry tried to reassure Washington's Arab allies and Israel that his country would not abandon them. 

Thumping the podium to make his point, Kerry said President Barack Obama had said "that he will continue to defend his friends and allies in this region, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, others, he will defend them against any external attack. 

"That is the promise of the United States and as I stand here as Secretary of State, as long as I'm Secretary of State, that is also our policy, my policy, representing the President of the United States in executing it." 

The fact that a deal might be within reach after a decade of confrontation between Iran and Western powers shows the shift in the tone of Tehran's foreign policy since President Hassan Rouhani was elected in June. 

Rouhani began diplomatic moves towards a nuclear deal in order to ease sanctions that have throttled Iran's vital oil industry and cut it off from the international banking system. 

On the table initially is phased, limited and reversible relief from sanctions. Iran, however, wants an early lifting of the oil and banking sanctions. 

Britain and Iran said they were reviving diplomatic ties two years after a mob of students attacked the British embassy in Tehran. Both sides said they were appointing a new charge d'affaires. 

Britain closed the embassy in 2011 after a rally against British sanctions escalated into violence and protesters scaled the walls, ransacked offices and burned buildings.

A senior leader of the feared Haqqani militant network was shot dead on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital, officials said Monday, in a new blow to the close-knit cluster of militant groups that shelter in northwestern Pakistan.

The leader, Nasiruddin Haqqani — a son of the militant group’s founder, the Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani — was gunned down outside a bread store on Sunday night by a man riding a motorcycle, witnesses told Pakistani news media outlets.

Intelligence officials believe that he was a chief fund-raiser for the Haqqani network, one of the most lethal elements of the insurgency in Afghanistan, and he was designated as a “global terrorist” by the United States in 2010. Two commanders for the group confirmed his death on Monday.

“We have received his body, and the funeral has taken place,” said one commander, Gul Hassan, who spoke by phone from North Waziristan, the main hub of the Haqqani group in Pakistan. “The mujahedeen are in shock.”

The killing added to an impression of increased turbulence for the militant groups harbored in Pakistan’s tribal belt, including Al Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban and the Haqqani network. Over just two months, one major leader has been arrested, two have been killed in a drone strike, and now a major financier — Mr. Haqqani — has died.