Hassan Rouhani is Iran's next president after appealing to tradition, reform

Iranian centrist candidate Hassan Rouhani won the Islamic republic's presidential election Saturday after campaigning on a "hope and prudence" platform in which he appealed to traditional conservatives and reform-minded voters alike. Rouhani spoke of reforms without threatening Iran's supreme leader or its institutions of which he is product. The former nationalsecurity council chief promised an environment with greater personal freedoms and even indicated he would free political prisoners and jailedjournalists. In his stumping, he also pledged to improve the economy and unemployment,and as a former nuclear negotiator, he said he wouldreduce the high tension between Iran and the outside world by addressingsanctions related to Iran's nuclear program. On Saturday, Iranians were dancing in the streets after his victory. In a sign of how the West is interested in how much change Rouhani could bring to Iran, the British Foreign Office immediately called upon him to set a new course for the country. "We call on him to use the opportunity to set Iran on a different course for the future: addressing international concerns aboutIran's nuclear programme, taking forward a constructive relationship with the international community, and improving the political and human rights situation for the people of Iran," a Foreign Office spokesman said. High turnout reported Iranian officials reported a high turnout, with nearly 73% of some 50 million registered voters -- men and women, young and old -- turning out, Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar announced Saturday. The lines extended into the streets at times Friday, as voters waited to pick their choice to succeed two-term President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the country's11th presidential election. Rouhani takes Ahmadinejad's mantle as oneof the country's most visiblefigures, at a time when it's dealing with painful economicsanctions tied to international concern about its nuclear program. Culled from CNN.