BEIRUT — Hezbollah's deputy secretary-general Naim Qassem, said on Thursday that the national dialogue which President Michael Aoun called for during his speech last week is “welcomed,” and that Hezbollah is ready to develop an understanding with Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and will stand with the party in May’s parliamentary elections.

Here’s what we know:

    • Qassem said Hezbollah’s understanding with the FPM comes down to “strategic and local issues” about which “we found that there is an intersection in convictions and opinions.” He added, “It is natural for the relations of understanding to be tainted by some gaps and problems that we believe can be resolved and discussed.”

    • Qassem said that the party will be with the FPM in the parliamentary elections and “we will cooperate in the constituencies, and we started holding meetings a while ago in order to prepare for the parliamentary elections.” He added that the party “believes that alliance and understanding with allies is a must” for the sake of the country.

    • Commenting on the diplomatic crisis with Saudi, Qassem said that Hezbollah’s response to Saudi Arabia’s accusations against it will “be decisive,” and the party will not accept the mistreatment without a response “backed with facts and logic.”

    • Qassem’s comments came during a commemoration for the second anniversary of Qassem Soleimani’s assassination, held in Nabatiyeh.