President-elect Hassan Rouhani made his first major speech on Saturday, but that is only part of the story.

Within minutes of Rouhani’s statement, there were two speeches circulating in the press and on the Internet — one that the Iranian media wished to emphasize, hailing the “golden page” of the election and “moderation”, and one highlighted by those seeking reform and the Western media, in which “freedoms” and “engagement” were the headline.

Press TV put out two articles soon after the speech. As on Election Day, and indeed as Rouhani was being declared the victor 24 hours later, the State outlet proclaimed the “turning point” of the ballot” with the President-elect’s words, “This golden page will not only remain in the memory of the Iranian nation, but also go down in history.” Even more important was the featuring of this declaration from Rouhani:

Moderation will not be possible without compliance with the law. Moderation will not be possible without transparency and without establishing a two-sided contact between the administration and the people.

Press TV then added the key conclusion: the election had ended all doubts about “the legitimacy of the Islamic establishment”.

In contrast to State media’s hailing of the status quo — and implicitly the authority of the Supreme Leader — others saw Rouhani’s signals of change. They noted that, when he referred to “a political system that…gains legitimacy from people’s votes”, this was in the context of a system where “there is no fear from free media”.

Even more pointed was Rouhani’s statement, “We should not have double standards for identifying human rights” — an assertion which could be read both in the context of Iran’s domestic situation and its backing of the Syrian regime versus the alleged crimes of “terrorists”:

We should not describe as oppressive brutal actions in an enemy country while refraining from calling the same actions oppressive if they take place in a friendly country. Brutality must be called brutality.

Echoing campaign statements, Rouhani said, “Happiness is our people’s right. We should not be strict toward the people. People follow the morality codes by themselves and are careful about them.”

What does that mean in practice? Not much at this point, given that Rouhani still has another five weeks before he is inaugurated.

However, it does point to a path already being carefully navigated — both by the President-elect and the regime and Iranian people watching him. Rouhani cannot be seen to be advocating steps beyond “moderation”, but at the same time he has to hold out hope of a meaningful change: not just change on the economic front, but in the ability of Iranians to lead their lives with some easing of the fear of repression.