Mahmoud Kashani parliament. Kashani founded Islamic Republican Party with Mohammad Beheshti and Mohammad-Javad Bahonar and was secretary-general of the party from 1979 to 1981. He was appointed as head of the Iranian delegation to the International Court of Justice in Iran's case with the United States in December 1981 by then-Prime Minister Mohammad-Ali Rajai but was removed from his position by Mir-Hossein Mousavi. He was independent candidate in 1985 presidential election which receives 1,402,416 (10.1%) of the votes behind winner Ali Khamenei. He was also nominated in 2001 presidential election which he lost to Mohammad Khatami and was ranked as the 5th
History of the Islamic Republic of Iran parliament. Despite high turnout and large enthusiastic crowds for reformist opponent Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Ahmadinejad was officially declared to have won by a 2–1 margin against three opponents. Allegations of voting irregularities and protest by Mousavi his supporters were immediate and continued off and on into 2011. Some 36–72 were killed and 4000 arrested. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei declared Ahmadinejad's victory a "divine assessment" and called for unity. He and others Islamic officials blamed foreign powers for fomenting the protest. However, by late 2010 several sources detected a "growing rift" between Ahmadinejad, and Khamenei and his supporters, with talk of impeachment