The head of the Marada Movement, Suleiman Franjieh, said: Our relationship with the Americans is clear, and we may disagree with them or agree, but we have not changed our position in fifty years, and their calculations have changed, but we have not changed. I was previously their candidate, but with the arrival of the new ambassador, the relationship was severed, even though he does not know us. He added: Of course, it was “inside Lebanon” who incited against Suleiman Franjieh, and when we had relations with the outside, we did not use them even once to incite against anyone. He said: It is better for us to have a secular regime by our side in Syria than to have an abolitionist sectarian regime. We are still cautious, but we hope that the new regime will be open. He declared: I have information, but I do not have proof that whoever incited the Americans against me is from “inside Lebanon.” He continued: Our relationship with the Americans is clear, and we may disagree with them or agree, but we have not changed our position in fifty years, and their calculations have changed, but we have not changed. I was previously their candidate, but with the arrival of the new ambassador, the relationship was severed, even though he does not know us. He added: I am not a candidate for the presidency of the republic, and in these circumstances I will not run, but if circumstances change, I may consider that. He said: If Hezbollah had not entered the battle for support, they would have betrayed it and said that it supported the Palestinian cause but did not defend Palestine. Franjieh added: I always said that the Iranian-American understanding is the solution and leads to fertile ground for settlement. Lebanon has become a card in the hands of the Americans at the negotiating table with Iran. Lebanon must be with Lebanon and work for its benefit. If Iran demands something that benefits Lebanon, the Lebanese negotiator must benefit from it, and likewise if America demands something that benefits Lebanon. He continued, saying: The President of the Republic made a mistake, as did everyone who went to negotiations without guarantees. He stressed that Israel did not stop the shooting, but Lebanon stopped it, and the Lebanese towns are being destroyed because Lebanon is responding to the Americans, and Israel does not do that, and so we gave it legitimacy and did not gain anything. He said: I call on His Excellency the President to “accommodate everyone” and that Lebanon will only achieve a national settlement and an inclusive national pact. He continued: “There is no division project in the region.” If this had happened, President Al-Assad would have remained in Syria and not gone to Moscow. He added: A month after the US sanctions were imposed on me, they called me “from the president” and said: “Whatever comes into our hands is not our business.” The direct negotiations took place against everyone's will, and "if it had brought something, we would not be talking about it now, and God willing, it will bring something because it will not bring anything." It is difficult for the resistance weapons to be able to achieve liberation now, but international support may come that leads to liberation or political settlements. The resistance is an option, but it must work inside Lebanon. He declared, "Hezbollah bears the least responsibility for the financial and economic crisis in Lebanon, but it did not know how to run the state." He added: Last year we reached an agreement, but Israel did not adhere to it. We could have reached a similar agreement this year, so why rush into direct negotiations? We could have conducted indirect negotiations.