Former U.S. diplomat Joey Hood stated that the Trump administration's sanctions against Iran were designed to gradually apply pressure over several months, even though U.S. officials sometimes portrayed them as an immediate solution. Hood said, "When the Treasury Secretary talks about economic sanctions, it sounds as if sanctions will be implemented and take effect within a day, but that’s not the case. The sanctions he describes take months to have an impact." Hood noted that U.S. diplomats are engaging with businesses and governments, warning them about the consequences of conducting transactions with Iran. Washington requires some time to implement sanctions before taking enforcement actions. He compared this timeline to the urgency of military operations in the Gulf region. Hood said, "Firing on an oil tanker in the Gulf doesn’t take time; it only takes a few minutes." He described the U.S. approach as "long-term sanctions on Iran’s financial, monetary, and material aspects, supplemented by military measures aimed at weakening Iran’s economy."