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Two of US President Donald Trump's key aides reportedly undertook a secret visit to a vital scientific facility in the country for consultations with a team of technical experts who could play a role in possible nuclear negotiations with Iran.
According to a report published by US news outlet Axios on Friday, June 5, the president's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner recently travelled to the Oak Ridge Laboratory in Tennessee.
The purported development is said to have taken place on Thursday, June 4, amid Washington's efforts to reach a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Tehran to end the war in the Middle East and begin in-depth nuclear negotiations.
The Axios report cited two US officials who said a team of roughly 100 experts was recently established to take part in nuclear negotiations should a preliminary deal be reached with Iran.
Some of the US's top experts in uranium processing and centrifuge technology are based at the Oak Ridge Laboratory and the nearby Y-12 Security Complex, both of which are controlled by the Department of Energy.
US-IRAN TALKS STATUS
Witkoff and Kushner's visit indicates that the US wants to have experts readily available should nuclear talks with Iran are launched. The warring nations continue to disagree on several details of the proposed MOU, Axios reported, citing US officials and regional sources.
One of the US officials said some of the same experts who attended the meeting with Witkoff and Kushner were part of a process to recover enriched uranium from a research reactor in Venezuela several weeks ago.
"This meeting in Oak Ridge doesn't mean that a deal [with Iran] is going to happen, but it is a sign that the negotiations are in a very serious phase and that there is a good chance to get it done, and we want to be prepared," they said.
News agency Reuters said its sources confirmed the report about Witkoff and Kushner's visit.
Trump is adamant that any deal to end the war with Iran includes a provision that Tehran will not develop a nuclear weapon. Iran, on the other hand, has firmly defended the stand that it wants to maintain the ability to enrich uranium and denies developing a weapon.
Iran is believed to possess about 900 pounds (nearly 408 kg) of highly enriched uranium that was at sites bombed by US planes last year.
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(With inputs from agencies)
Published On:
Jun 7, 2026 11:56 IST
