US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will hold nuclear talks in Oman early next month to discuss the next steps toward a complex nuclear deal.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will hold nuclear talks in Oman early next month to discuss the next steps toward a complex nuclear deal.

Kerry will travel to Muscat for talks with Zarif and outgoing EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on November 9-10, his spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Friday.

The Austria Press Agency also reported Friday that Kerry will meet his Iranian counterpart in Oman on around November 10.

The meeting comes ahead of a final round of talks between Iran and world powers in Vienna from around November 17, APA cited unnamed diplomatic sources as saying.

Iran and the P5+1 group -- Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and Germany – are negotiating to narrow their differences over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program ahead of a November 24 deadline.

Months of intense negotiations, including between Kerry and Zarif in mid-October in Vienna, have made some progress but appear deadlocked on the key issues of uranium enrichment and the pace of any sanctions relief.

Kerry said on Thursday that reaching a deal would require Iran to make "tough decisions".

Catherine Ashton, the outgoing EU foreign policy chief who will continue to chair the nuclear talks until November 24, will also be present in Oman, APA reported.

The news agency also said that chief negotiators from the six powers -- but without Iran -- will meet in Vienna on November 7.

Oman was where the United States and Iran reportedly held secret talks that laid the groundwork for an interim deal struck last November.