The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran is rattling businesses worldwide, driving up energy prices, squeezing supplies of critical raw materials and raising questions about the reliability of trade routes critical to the flow of goods from food to car parts.

The widening conflict has choked major air and sea transport corridors through the Middle East. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for one-fifth of the world’s oil, slowed to a near-halt as Iran retaliated with drone strikes against U.S. and Israeli attacks. Busy air transit routes in the Gulf have gone dark.

Soaring oil and gas prices have pushed up costs for companies, threatening their margins, and raised the spectre for policymakers and investors of a ‌fresh bout of…