Al-Monitor l Ali Hashem: 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�Ayatollah 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�Ayatollah 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�Ayatollah 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,�Ayatollah 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.

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