Mahmoud Kashani

Sayyid Mahmoud Kashani is an Iranian politician, academic, writer and lawyer. He is also a professor in Shahid Beheshti University. He was head of the Iranian delegation to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands from 1981 to 1985. He was also a presidential candidate in the 1985 and 2001 elections.

Early life and family

He was born on 6 June 1942 in Tehran, Iran. His father, Abol-Ghasem Kashani was a prominent Twelver Shia Muslim cleric and former chairman of the parliament. He is also older brother of Ahmad Kashani, a former member of the parliament.

Political career

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 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 out of 10 candidates.