Vienna: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived back in Vienna on Tuesday for nuclear talks with world powers after holding a day of consultations in Tehran, Iranian officials said.

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Zarif was accompanied by Iran`s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi, as well as President Hassan Rouhani`s brother and close confidante Hossein Fereydoun. Zarif was due to meet US Secretary of State John Kerry later Tuesday, US officials said.

After almost two years of talks, a nominal deadline of midnight (2200 GMT) for an accord was widely expected to be missed, but officials say the negotiations will only last for a few more days.

Iran and the P5+1 powers -- the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany -- agreed a framework accord in April that they are now seeking to finalise.

The deal will see Iran scale down its nuclear programme in order to make it virtually impossible to build a nuclear bomb. In return painful sanctions will be lifted.

Tough issues remain, however, including working out the pace and timing of sanctions relief and increased access in Iran for the UN atomic watchdog.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was also due in Vienna later Tuesday. Other foreign ministers were expected in the coming days.