Farshad Ghodoosi

Associate Professor of Business Law at Nazarian College of Business & Economics, California State University, Northridge. @YaleLawSch alumnus.

[Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @NYCMayor]

Today marks Nakba Day, an annual day of remembrance to commemorate the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians between 1947 and 1949 during the creation of the State of Israel and the year that followed.

Inea is a New Yorker and a Nakba survivor. She shared her story with us — one of home, tradition and memory over generations.

[Farshad Ghodoosi @fghodoosi]

While many accounts have been closed here and continue to be closed, one cannot help but be reminded of Musk's self-proclaimed title of 'free speech absolutist."

[Farshad Ghodoosi @fghodoosi]

"This is a military and diplomatic war for professionals, not for amateurs."

[Patricia Marins @pati_marins64]

The Blockade of the Blockade

If the greatest pressure on the American government comes from the low amount of oil on the market, then another blockade would tend to push prices even higher and could become catastrophic if the other strait is closed or if there is a new attack on Saudi facilities.

It’s like a wrestler suffering a leg lock who then applies another lock on the same leg, but higher up, aiming to decrease the pain of the first lock.

The idea that Iran will stop exporting oil and have its economy collapse is real, but not in the short term. Meanwhile, the political and economic pressure on Trump, who faces elections this year, tends to intensify in the short term.

This is not a war that Iran did not expect. On the contrary, it prepared for it and certainly has lines of credit with the Chinese. Moreover, in the face of any blockade, it can continue to maintain basic commercial flows through the Iran-Asia railway.

This is a military and diplomatic war for professionals, not for amateurs.

[Farshad Ghodoosi @fghodoosi]

If you cannot solve a problem, enlarge it!

[Alan Eyre @AlanEyre1]

“'If you cannot solve a problem, enlarge it.' That advice, often attributed to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, seems to be Trump’s strategy..."

WADR to the stellar journalist @IgnatiusPost, Actually, Trump's strategy is, "If you don't have a problem, create it, enlarge it, enlarge it some more, then ignore it while creating another problem."

[Farshad Ghodoosi @fghodoosi]

It is called the Persian Gulf.

[Alan Eyre @AlanEyre1]

It’s called the Persian Gulf.

[Farshad Ghodoosi @fghodoosi]

@rrghadi01 پاینده ایران

[Farshad Ghodoosi @fghodoosi]

The Wakhan Corridor — a narrow strip of Afghan mountain land most people couldn't find on a map — may be about to become one of the most geopolitically significant passages on earth.

[Hossein Ghatib حسین قتیب @HosseinGhatib]

شاید یکی از تاثیرات بلند مدت محاصره دریایی ایران و بسته شدن‌ تنگه هرمز،
باز شدن جدی آن مرز در آن باریکه باشد. 👇🏼

[Farshad Ghodoosi @fghodoosi]

The right to skydive!

[Farshad Ghodoosi @fghodoosi]

As scary as it looks, we have seemingly entered a world where nothing can be resolved through negotiations. First, international law became less relevant or irrelevant altogether — and now diplomacy. Perhaps they eroded in tandem. Whatever the case, the world is headed to a dangerous place.

[Farshad Ghodoosi @fghodoosi]

In an ironic twist, to save the US dollar's hegemony, the US needs to lift some or all sanctions on Iran. Otherwise, the petrodollar system will keep crumbling.

[Farshad Ghodoosi @fghodoosi]

In case one wonders — destruction of an entire civilization thousands of years old is bearish or bullish for the markets!

[David Sirota @davidsirota]

CNBC: "President Trump has threatened to destroy a civilization. How does an investor process that? Is it a bigger upside risk or downside risk?"

What stage of corporate media is this?

(h/t @paleofuture)

[Farshad Ghodoosi @fghodoosi]

Folks, let me introduce you to the former judge at the International Court of Justice -- who apparently does not like ceasefires.

[Trita Parsi @tparsi]

Beyond pathetic

[Farshad Ghodoosi @fghodoosi]

Here is a fact check of Grok by another AI (paid version):

1/5 Fact-checking @grok's take on the Iran deal 🧵 Grok sided with Javadi but got some key facts wrong in the process.

2/5 ❌ Grok says sanctions relief "unlocked ~$100B+" for Iran to spend. Misleading. Iran's own central bank said only ~$29–32B was actually accessible. Much of the $100B+ figure was illiquid, in Chinese project accounts, or held in currencies Iran couldn't easily convert. The U.S. Treasury put the usable liquid assets at ~$50B.

3/5 ⚠️ Grok says missiles were excluded "by design, as Obama negotiators prioritized that." Half-true at best. China, Russia & Iran all blocked missile restrictions from being included. It wasn't Obama's solo call — including missiles would have collapsed the multilateral deal entirely.

4/5 ⚠️ Grok validates the JCPOA→Oct. 7 "resource flow" connection, then says there's "no ironclad straight line." That's contradictory. Iran spent roughly the same $2–3B/year on proxies before AND during the deal, per Trump's own administration estimates.

5/5 Bottom line: Grok gave a more nuanced answer than Javadi but still repeated the inflated $100B figure uncritically and glossed over why missiles were excluded. Framing those as pro-Javadi points without caveats is sloppy analysis, not fact-checking.

(spoiler: I would listen to IR experts who have been working on these issues and have written books.)

[Sina Azodi @ProfSAzodi]

I’m sure the finance professor is well qualified to discuss nuclear proliferation .

[Farshad Ghodoosi @fghodoosi]

Timely insight by @oonahathaway. Threats alone are unlawful.

[Oona Hathaway @oonahathaway]

I am getting questions about whether Trump's threats alone are illegal. The answer is yes.

1. Additional Protocol I states “Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited.” (also DOD LOW Manual §5.2.2)
1/

[Armina Arm @ArminaArm]

Niccolò Machiaveli :

"To ally with great powers to defeat your neighbor is a strategic trap; if you win, you become the slave of the greater power; if the allied power is defeated, you remain alone and defenseless against the angry neighbor, and you are destroyed."
[The Prince]

[Farshad Ghodoosi @fghodoosi]

How many households have we turned into this? Does anyone ever ask?

[Farshad Ghodoosi @fghodoosi]

Unlike what is advertised, speaking your mind as an expert on Iran has been truly challenging. This isn't cancel culture — it's the deliberate silencing of 'inconvenient' expertise.

[Sina Azodi @ProfSAzodi]

For years , we warned that without diplomacy war will be inevitable. We were smeared and attacked as fear mongers and “regime lobbyists.”
Now that war already started and Trump has threatened to escalate tonight - the very same people who attacked us are saying “oh I didn’t want this to happen… I didn’t play any role in this.”

[Farshad Ghodoosi @fghodoosi]

حجت تمام شد. البته سالهاست تمام است. برای آنهایی که می اندیشند.

چقدر تحت فشار بودیم. از همه جا.

آنهایی که به سادگی می گفتند به وطن بیاندیشید. به تمدنتان.

[Farshad Ghodoosi @fghodoosi]

I am an animal from the Stone Age whose civilization is about to get obliterated. All the while you have lectured me all my life about morality, laws, and democratic values.