Embassies across the middle east remain closed because of terrorist chatter that concerned many officials in Washington.

“This is the most serious threat that I’ve seen in the last several years,” Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) told NBC. “Chatter means conversation among terrorists about the planning that’s going on – very reminiscent of what we saw pre-9/11.”

The BBC’s David Willis reported that while details of the threats have been kept quiet, multiple Congressional members have said the evidence points to a major attack timed to the end of Ramadan, Islam’s holy month. The unspecified target is reported to be a consulate.

The concern among intelligence officials is that in the wake of the successful terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, a similar assault is the focus of the terrorist chatter.

The focus of many of the intelligence reports is Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) that has tried to carry out major attacks in the past such as the 2009 terror attempt in a trans-Atlantic flight over Detroit when a terrorist had explosives sewn into his underwear.

AQAP is mainly centered in Yemen, which lead the UK to close their embassy and order British nationals to leave that country. U.S. facilities are also closed in Yemen.

A travel alert issued to U.S. citizens in the middle east and Africa shows concern beyond just embassies and consulates; the alert warns for the “potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure.”

The Obama administration asked news outlets to withhold some of the details of the threat due to “sensitivity of the information” according to CNN.

CNN’s national security analyst Frances Townsend said the closing of the embassies has a strategic purpose.

“Once you take the targets away,” Townsend said, “it buys you additional time to try and disrupt, to identify the cell, the operators in the country and the region, and work with your partners in the region to try and … get them in custody or disrupt the plot.”