VIENNA: A year and half of nuclear talks between Iran and major powers were creeping toward the finish line as negotiators wrestled with sticking points including questions about Tehran’s past atomic research.

Iran is in talks with the United States and five other powers — Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia — on an agreement to curtail its nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

“We are coming to the end,” said a senior Western diplomat, who added there was no plan to carry on for long past next Tuesday. “Either we get an agreement or we don’t,” he said, adding that the process “remains quite difficult.”

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif seemed to be reading from the same script as they spoke to reporters before a meeting with their top aides on Friday evening.

“We are making progress,” Kerry said. “We have a lot of work to do. There are some tough issues, but (there’s a) genuine effort by everybody.”