Qatar pursued secret talks with Iran to shield gas complex from strikes, security officials say

The missile attack that Iran launched against Qatar in mid-March sent plumes of smoke rising from the largest natural-gas production facility in the world.

It destroyed sections of a plant that provides nearly a fifth of the globe’s gas supply, imperiled multibillion-dollar contracts with China and other clients, and damaged the prospects of finding an earlier end to the war by dragging Qatar, a key mediator between the United States and Iran, into the fight.