China Experts Offer New Ideas as Hormuz Toll Dispute Continues

Middle Eastern outlets frame the toll debate as a struggle over who controls security and income in the Gulf’s key chokepoint. They describe Gulf Arab states and Iran as wanting a larger say over shipping rules and toll revenues, arguing that outside powers benefit from the route without paying enough for its protection. Commentators caution that letting distant importers or outside bodies run the toll system could weaken regional influence over their own waters.

• •Gulf producers and Iran argue that states bordering Hormuz should lead any toll system because they bear the main security burden.
• •Regional voices say current shipping arrangements allow foreign importers to profit from cheap Gulf oil while contributing little to maritime protection costs.
• •Middle Eastern commentators resist proposals that would give non‑regional powers or international bodies primary control over toll setting and enforcement.
• •Some Gulf perspectives link the toll debate to wider efforts to reduce reliance on Western naval patrols in the Gulf.
• •Regional analysts warn that if outside powers dominate Hormuz toll rules, local states could lose influence over future security and trade decisions in the waterway.