TEHRAN, Iran — At the Imam Khomeini Hussainiya prayer hall, the residence of Iran’s supreme leader, an orchestra played the Iranian national anthem. Almost every senior official in the Islamic Republic was present to witness Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei endorse the results of the May 19 presidential elections and inaugurate the second term of President Hassan Rouhani. As the music faded, a recitation of verses from the Quran began, with Khamenei, Rouhani and the officials listening carefully. The late President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was missed. It was the first time in three decades that he was not present at such a ceremony.

Rouhani is obviously not the same president-elect as he was in 2013. He now appears to be ready to draw his own road map in front of both friends and foes — including Khamenei. All of Rouhani’s men were at the ceremony, as were his rivals, from his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to his most recent conservative presidential competitor, Ebrahim Raisi. They watched on as the president and the supreme leader appeared to have their best encounter in months. Indeed, it might have been the first time that Khamenei had met or mentioned Rouhani without criticizing him, perhaps an indication that Rouhani's second term might be the beginning of a new chapter. Yet, Khamenei notably called on officials to respect the revolutionary forces, because they are the ones who are going to defend the country if there is an attack.

At the conclusion of the Quranic verses, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli presented a report on the elections, and the supreme leader's chief of staff, Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, recited the endorsement decree, which read, “With the guidance and blessings of God, in the shade of the Great Imam of the Ages’ [the Mahdi] (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake) attention and benevolence; and by following the people of Iran's lead, I hereby endorse their votes, appointing honorable scholar, Hujjatul-Islam Dr. Hassan Rouhani, as the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

As Golpayegani finished reading the decree, Khamenei handed Rouhani the document, congratulating him and kissing his cheeks. Rouhani in turn kissed the supreme leader’s shoulder, a Muslim tradition that implies respect and affection. On the wall behind both men, a saying by the first Shiite imam, Ali, read, “The people’s need of you is a blessing from God, thus regard them as valuable.”