By Mostafa Salem, Jeremy Diamond, Gul Tuysuz, CNN
(CNN) — Some personnel at the United States’ largest military base in the Middle East have been urged to leave, a US official told CNN on Wednesday, as regional nations press the Trump administration to reconsider taking military action against Iran.
The US official described the directive to some personnel to leave al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar as a “precaution,” given current tension in the region.
The US Embassy in Saudi Arabia also advised its personnel to “exercise increased caution and limit non-essential travel to any military installations in the region” and urged citizens to maintain a “personal safety plan.”
Meanwhile, anxiety is spreading across Iran’s neighbors. Those countries fear that an attack could destabilize the region and have far-reaching consequences, prompting them to speak to the Trump administration to air their concerns.
Arab and Turkish officials have significantly intensified diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions between Washington and Tehran this week, sources told CNN.
“Any military escalation will have consequences for the wider region, including its security and economy,” a regional official with knowledge of the matter told CNN on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman have launched diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation, the official said. Arab governments have warned that an attack now could have the “opposite effect and unite Iranians on both sides behind the regime,” the regional official said.
Turkish efforts may be ‘too late’
Turkey is also in touch with both Iranian and American officials about returning to the negotiating table, a regional diplomatic source told CNN on Wednesday. But it may be “too late,” the source warned.
“Currently, there is talk about negotiating. The pace of talks is slow, (and) at this speed might end up being too late,” the source said.
On Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his country is trying to “support” an agreement between Iran and the US that will “result in a win-win situation” for both sides.
“The stability of the region depends on it,” Fidan said.
Turkey, a NATO member that has felt the economic pressures and security risks from hosting millions of Syrian refugees from Syria’s decade-long civil war, risks encountering a new wave of refugees should the Iranian regime collapse.
But its primary concern with instability in Iran is likely the risk of unrest in its neighbor’s Kurdish regions, which Ankara fears could spill across the border and reignite separatist sentiment. Last year, Turkey reached a historic turning point in its decades-long conflict with militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) after the group renounced violence and ambitions to secede.
In Saudi Arabia, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir told CNN’s Becky Anderson on Wednesday that “everybody is watching the situation very closely.”
“Everybody is hoping that the situation can be resolved in a manner that minimizes any kind of damage,” he said.
Since US President Donald Trump first threatened to intervene last week, more than 2,000 protesters have been killed by Iranian forces, who accuse them of being “foreign-backed rioters.” Trump doubled down Tuesday in a social media post, calling on Iranians to take over institutions and promising that “HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”
Trump also announced that he had “cancelled all meetings” with Iranian officials following reports over the weekend suggesting possible negotiations between the US and Iran.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke to his counterparts in the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, and the chief of Iran’s national security body, Ali Larijani, spoke to the Qatari foreign minister.
Fears of refugee infl