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U.S. President Donald Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner made an unannounced trip to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to consult with a team of approximately 100 technical experts assembled to support nuclear negotiations with Iran.
The White House, meanwhile, pursues a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tehran to end the war and launch detailed nuclear talks, Axios reported Friday.
The Oak Ridge consultations signal that U.S.-Iran negotiations are in their most advanced phase yet, with envoys moving to prepare implementation infrastructure before a preliminary deal is even finalized, though several unresolved disputes remain, and whether an agreement will ultimately be reached is still uncertain.
Witkoff and Kushner visited Energy Department facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex, home to some of the country's foremost experts in uranium processing and centrifuge technology. Nuclear materials and equipment from Kazakhstan and Libya have previously been routed through Tennessee facilities.
Two U.S. officials confirmed the visit to Axios and said a team of roughly 100 experts had recently been established to participate in nuclear negotiations should a preliminary deal be reached.
Witkoff and Kushner met with members of that team to discuss preparations for potential implementation.
"This meeting in Oak Ridge doesn't mean that a deal 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," a U.S. official said.
Some of the same experts who met with the envoys on Thursday had previously joined Witkoff and Kushner in Oman for nuclear negotiations with Iran before the war. Others participated in the recent recovery of enriched uranium from Venezuela, material that arrived in South Carolina last month for processing.
"These are the top nuclear experts in the U.S. who know how to do the technical things that a deal with Iran will entail," a U.S. official said.
Witkoff and Kushner agreed terms with their Iranian counterparts last week on a 60-day MoU covering a ceasefire extension, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian oil sales, and the launch of talks on Iran's enriched uranium stockpile and future enrichment limits.
Trump asked for two amendments to the draft text, and Iran said it would propose revisions of its own. U.S. sources characterized the remaining gaps as "relatively narrow."
One key dispute concerns the deadline for down-blending Iran's enriched uranium.
Washington wants 60 days; Tehran is seeking 90. The two sides also disagree on the timing and amount of frozen Iranian funds to be released. The U.S. has said it would release funds after a final deal is reached and concrete implementation steps are taken. Iran wants some funds released immediately.
An adviser to Iran's supreme leader told CNN that the talks were deadlocked over the frozen funds issue and that "the ball is in Trump's court."
Should negotiations move to a second phase, the assembled expert team would develop plans for the disposal of Iran's nuclear material, additional limits on its enrichment program, and a compliance verification framework.
U.S. officials told Axios they have been receiving positive indications from Iranian negotiators but believe there are internal divisions in Tehran over how to proceed.
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