In Pictures - Who is Ebrahim Raisi?

Heightened tensions with the United States also gave resonance to his criticism, especially after a series of skirmishes with U.S. forces in late 2019 and early 2020. When the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps downed Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 in January 2020, mistaking the passenger plane for a U.S. cruise missile, Raisi oversaw the investigation into the tragic event. The investigation did little to hold Iranian officials publicly accountable, however, blaming the incident on errors of low-ranking operators.