SINGAPORE, March 2 -- Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong warned that escalating tensions in the Middle East could impact energy prices and ripple across the global economy, including Singapore.

"Because businesses and companies will find it impossible to plan for what will happen tomorrow, what they can rely on, where they can safely invest, what they should do in order to make sure that the company will be okay the day after tomorrow.

"And this is going to affect us too. As a small and open economy, we rely on global trade and investment," he was quoted as saying by Singapore-based news outlet CNA.

The former Singapore prime minister said the joint strikes by Israel and the US on Iran, which retaliated, marked the start of a conflict wit...