Iran and major powers are seeking to clinch an historic nuclear deal, with both sides saying an end to a 13-year stand-off lies tantalisingly within reach.  The talks, the latest set of which have dragged on for more than two weeks, aim to nail down an agreement curbing Iran's nuclear activities to make it extremely difficult for Tehran to develop the atomic bomb, an aim the Islamic Republic denies.  There had been optimism a deal would be clinched over the weekend but finalising a framework accord struck in April has proved difficult, with talks stumbling on the exact timing of sanctions relief and Iran's desire to have a UN conventional arms embargo lifted.  "We have come a long way. We need to reach a peak and we're very close," President Hassan Rouhani said in Iran Sunday, quoted by the ISNA news agency on a 16th day of talks in Vienna.  "We are so close that if you look down from below you feel as if we have got there but when you do get there you know there are still some steps to take."  A German diplomatic source warned the talks "could yet fail".  "But we really are nearly there. The decisive moment has arrived. If Tehran is ready to take the final steps then things can go very quickly," the source said late on Sunday.  A senior US State Department official said "major issues remain to be resolved" but Secretary of State John Kerry said he was "hopeful".  Such an accord, if it can be agreed, approved and implemented properly - which is also no small challenge - would draw a line under 13 years of failed diplomacy and military threats.  In return Iran will be granted staggered relief from painful sanctions, although the six powers - the so-called P5+1 of the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - insist on the option of reimposing the restrictions if Tehran breaches the agreement.  Foreign ministers from all seven countries were expected to be present in Vienna on Monday.  "I hope we are finally entering the final phase of these marathon negotiations. I believe it," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who cancelled a trip to Africa to stay at the talks, said on Sunday.  The current diplomatic effort dates back to Rouhani's coming to power in 2013.  He sought a rapprochement with the West and an end to his country's diplomatic and economic isolation.  The prospect of a thawing of relations between Iran and the United States unsettles many in the Middle East, however, not least Tehran's rivals Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies.  Israel, widely assumed to have nuclear weapons itself, is also deeply concerned, complaining that the proposed deal will fail to stop its arch foe getting the bomb.  Do you have any news photos or videos?
Washington has warned that major issues still remain to be overcome in talks on a nuclear deal with Iran ahead of the latest deadline for an agreement.