Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, envoys of US President Donald Trump, met with technology experts at a national research laboratory in Tennessee on Thursday, according to Axios citing a US official. The meeting took place as the United States resumed attacks on Iran while simultaneously engaging in talks aimed at limiting Tehran’s nuclear program.

Scott Roker, vice president of the Nuclear Materials Security Program at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, said the laboratory has a history of removing highly enriched uranium worldwide. He told CNN that the facility has the expertise to handle, convert, and transport such materials safely, but noted that no one in the US has experience retrieving uranium buried underground. Intelligence assessments indicated that a June 2025 US strike on Iran’s Isfahan complex buried much of Tehran’s enriched uranium stockpile without destroying it.

Roker described the meeting as an encouraging sign, suggesting it was necessary to involve US government experts in the ongoing discussions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this week that the talks with Iran are technical and could take several months.