Progress has been made in nuclear talks on Iran, although time is running out, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Friday, Reuters reported.

"I remain convinced we can reach a deal. Bits of progress have been made in the last few days," Jean-Yves Le Drian told BFM TV and RMC Radio. "We have been heading in a positive direction in the last few days, but time is of the essence, because if we don't get an accord quickly there will be nothing to negotiate."

Earlier, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that talks on a nuclear deal with Iran in Vienna showed modest progress and that the US hopes to build on it.

According to the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, sanctions were lifted from Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear activities, but the former US President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the deal in 2018, a year after he took office.