SEATTLE (AP) — Before coach Amir Ghalenoei or goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand answered any questions Thursday ahead of Iran’s World Cup match with Egypt, a FIFA official spoke up.
Daniel Marin, FIFA's executive director of public relations, read a statement in light of the teams meeting in a “Pride Match” in Seattle on Friday. Egypt and Iran are two of the most repressive places in the world for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, but they coincidentally will play each other while the host city honors the LGBTQ+ community.
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FILE - Sasha Peretti dances on the Greater Seattle Business Association float during the annual Seattle Pride Parade, June 25, 2023, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
Iran head coach Amir Ghalehnoy sits on the bench prior to the World Cup Group G soccer match between Belgium and Iran in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Iran's Ramin Rezaeian (23) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal during the World Cup Group G soccer match between Iran and New Zealand in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
FILE - Marchers with the Greater Seattle Business Association, Washington State's LGBTQ+ and allied chamber of commerce, hold rainbow letters spelling out "Seattle," during the annual Seattle Pride Parade, June 25, 2023, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
“This Islamic Republic of the Iran Football Federation has asked us to inform the media that they are only willing to answer questions in relation to the game,” Marin said. “We fully respect the right of all journalists to ask questions. In this case, we ask you respect the rights of the federation here today to only answer questions in relation to the team, the tactics, the match, and so on.”
Nonetheless, Ghalenoei was peppered with questions about what will transpire inside Lumen Field and around the stadium on Friday.
In December, both countries asked for the Pride-themed celebrations to be canceled. FIFA treats the rainbow flag as a statement of human rights and will allow fans to wave it inside the stadium, according to Hana Tadesse, a spokesperson for Seattle's World Cup organizing committee.
Ghalenoei said the team would focus on soccer. With a win, Iran could advance to the tournament's knockout stage for the first time.
“I said to you earlier we are here to play football. For nothing else,” Ghalenoei said in response to a reporter’s question in Persian. “Our entire focus is going to be on tomorrow’s game, on succeeding in tomorrow’s game. And, anything else that is banned ... we don’t want to speak about it.
“We are only going to speak about football, what a beautiful game it is, and how enjoyable it’s going to be.”
Iran has faced numerous complications off the field. The team has endured travel restrictions imposed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in light of the war in Iran.
In March, Iran sought to move its group-stage matches to Mexico, with which it has diplomatic ties. Its request to move its base camp from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana was granted two weeks before the team’s arrival. Several team officials and members of the support staff have been barred from traveling into the U.S. with the team.
For the first two matches, near Los Angeles, the team was not permitted to travel until the day before. The U.S. then eased its restrictions, allowing the squad to travel to Seattle two days before Friday’s match.
Ghalenoei said the team is in a better position with its fitness as a result.
“This was a right that we should have had in the two previous games,” Ghalenoei said. “They deprived us of the right to arrive in time. ... What they did for us this time, they didn’t do for the two previous games.”
Ghalenoei commended FIFA president Gianni Infantino for doing the “utmost” to “minimize the challenges” Iran has faced.
But on Friday, Iran is sure to be tested in multiple ways. Egypt is in first place in Group G, and Iran will try to focus strictly on its opponent.
“We are not going to think about what is going on outside of the pitch, because the game is going to be so arduous,” Ghalenoei said. “It is going to be so exciting that we are going to have our total focus on that. We are representatives of our great Iranian nation and great Iranian country, and football only. We are only focused on football, and nothing else.”
See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here.
FILE - Sasha Peretti dances on the Greater Seattle Business Association float during the annual Seattle Pride Parade, June 25, 2023, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
Iran head coach Amir Ghalehnoy sits on the bench prior to the World Cup Group G soccer match between Belgium and Iran in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Iran's Ramin Rezaeian (23) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal during the World Cup Group G soccer match between Iran and New Zealand in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
FILE - Marchers with the Greater Seattle Business Association, Washington State's LGBTQ+ and allied chamber of commerce, hold rainbow letters spelling out "Seattle," during the annual Seattle Pride Parade, June 25, 2023, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
LA GUAIRA, Venezuela (AP) — The death toll from Venezuela’s catastrophic earthquake has risen to around 235, with at least 4,300 people injured, Health Minister Carlos Alvarado told state media on Thursday.
“Unfortunately we have received around 235 patients who arrive without vital signs or die when they arrive at our health facilities,” Alvarado said.
The number of dead and injured is expected to rise with thousands reported missing.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
LA GUAIRA, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelans searched for survivors beneath collapsed buildings Thursday and rescue teams raced to northern areas rocked by a pair of powerful earthquakes that officials say killed at least 188 people and left more than 200 trapped.
More were feared dead from the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck Wednesday evening — among the strongest in Venezuela in more than a century and felt throughout the region. Some 1,500 people were injured, thousands were reported missing and buildings were evacuated as far away as Brazil’s Amazon.
In response to the devastation, the U.S. Treasury on Thursday moved to waive some sanctions until Oct. 23 to allow transactions related to earthquake relief efforts in Venezuela that would otherwise be prohibited.
Meanwhile, in cities across northern Venezuela, panicked residents poured into the streets and searched for the missing in the debris.
The injured were pulled out of the rubble covered in dust and blood, among them children and animals. Venezuelan state TV showed dramatic images of rescues, including a woman who was trapped under a cement slab, only a barefoot poking out before crews managed to get her out alive. But few government search teams were scene outside Caracas.
Dayana Delgado, mother of three children, asked where the heavy machinery was that government officials had promised, pointing out that neighbors were the ones digging through the rubble.
“I want to know where my child is, if he’s trapped or in a shelter,” she said of her 8-year-old son who was missing.
One mother sobbed and collapsed in grief as the bodies of her 3- and 10-year-old children were wrapped in blankets and carried away. Others screamed the names of missing loved ones. Some stood in silent shock.
The coastal region of La Guaira — north of the capital, Caracas — suffered some of the heaviest damage and casualties. The country’s main airport is there and was closed due to damage, complicating aid efforts.
Retired schoolteacher Juan Alberto Mendaño climbed through wreckage in La Guaira and past a dead body when he spotted a woman who was trapped and signaling with her hand for help.
“May God rescue her as quickly as possible,” said Mendaño. “When we heard the scream, there was nothing we could do.”
Offers to send aid and supplied poured in from around the world, including from the United States, which seized Venezuela's then-president Nicolas Maduro at the beginning of the year in a surprise military operation.
The natural disaster is just the latest challenge for acting President Delcy Rodríguez, the former vice president who took office in January after Maduro's capture. Venezuela has been facing economic disarray for more than a decade, and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement Rodríguez represents.
Venezuelan authorities said they were diverting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, which is no stranger to natural disasters; a 1999 mudslide there, considered one of the country’s worst natural disasters, killed thousands.
Rodríguez appealed to businesses Thursday to make heavy construction equipment available for rescue operations.
“We hope to rescue as many living people as possible,” said Rodríguez, who referred to La Guaira as a “disaster zone.”
She said the first rescuers from the Dominican Republic were about to land and more from other countries were expected to arrive in the coming hours.
While Venezuela sits near multiple fault lines, its position straddling the South American and Caribbean plates makes strong earthquakes much less common than in other parts of Latin America.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the first earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.2, hit west of Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Caracas. It had a depth of 22 kilometers (about 14 miles). Just a minute later, USGS reported a second 7.5 magnitude earthquake, with a depth of 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) and an epicenter 16 kilometers (10 miles) southwest of Moron.
The one-two punch of the quakes, combined with the shallow seismic movements, amplified the destruction, said Marcos Ferreira, a geophysicist and researcher at the Geological Survey of Brazil.
“It is as if I am screaming and then someone starts screaming, too. That amplifies the vibration and adds to the potential hazard,” Ferreira said.
During the quakes, people ran from swaying buildings. Many were stunned Thursday morning as they saw buildings reduced to skeletons, furniture hanging out of windows and helicopters circling overhead.
In La Guaira, Cristian Carreño stared at his charred apartment building tilting precariously to one side.
“I lost everything,” he said. “There are people still inside, I imagine, that couldn’t get out. It’s incredibly devastating.”
In downtown Caracas, hundreds spent the night huddled in parks, parking lots and other open spaces.
“We were afraid the buildings would collapse on us,” said María Cristina Díaz, a 41-year-old janitor. “My mother, my daughter and I were cold. We didn’t sleep a wink.”
Parts of the capital lost power and cellphone service, Rodríguez said. Subway services were suspended and natural gas was shut off, she said. Classes will also be canceled for several days, and the Ministry of Education said some school buildings would be used as shelters and donation centers.
Families began posting missing-person flyers with photos of loved ones, while others shared handwritten lists of names as they searched for loved ones. Venezuelans living abroad struggled to make contact with relatives.
Shortly after United Nations officials in Venezuela called on the government to lift social media restrictions so people can get potentially life-saving information, Venezuelans in the country were able to access X. The site had been blocked by Maduro since August 2024, in an attempt to suppress the exchange of information among those who rejected his claim of victory in the July presidential election.
Rodríguez declared a state of emergency in an address to the nation late Wednesday. She said the government was creating a $200 million reconstruction fund for damaged hospitals and homes.
Leaders from Mexico, Qatar, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Canada vowed to send aid. A number of shipments were already on the way Thursday. Aid included emergency and military personnel, canine and search teams, medical supplies, water purifiers, airplanes and drones.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who spoke to Rodríguez following the quake, said the United States was “immediately” deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources other assistance, though he acknowledged the closure of Venezuela's main airport created logistical challenges.
“We have a whole-of-government response. It’ll be big; it’ll be fast; and it’ll be effective,” Rubio said.
Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Associated Press journalists Regina Garcia Cano, Mauricio Savarese, Anna-Catherine Brigida, Danica Coto, Clara Preve, and Alexandra Olson contributed to this report.
A resident stands in a damaged building a day after an earthquake struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Javier Campos)
A man walks over the fallen walls of his home in Moron, near the epicenter of two earthquakes that struck Venezuela the day before, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacinto Oliveros)
Buildings damaged by an earthquake stand in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
Neighbors carry a man rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building the day after earthquakes struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
An injured woman walks in La Guaira, Venezuela, a day after an earthquake struck the area, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
Damaged buildings stand a day after earthquakes struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Juan Pablo Arraez)
Neighbors helps a man evacuate his damaged home after an earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, June 24, 2026.(AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
A vehicle is trapped in a fissure caused by an earthquake in La Guaira, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP PhotoJavier Campos)
Residents walk among the rubble of building damaged in earthquakes the previous day in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
Patients lie outside a hospital evacuated after it was damaged in an earthquake in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
People camp on a sports court following an earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026 (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
Rescue workers search through the rubble of a collapsed building after an earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Rescue workers search through the rubble after an earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Javier Campos)
People stay outside their homes after an earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
People sleep outside their homes following an earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, June 25, 2026 (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
A boy comforts his mother after an earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
A man holding a dog cries after an earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Javier Campos)
Rescue workers search through the rubble after an earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, June 24, 2026.(AP Photo/Javier Campos)
Rescue workers search through the rubble of a collapsed building after earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Rescue worker carry an injured man after an earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
