Iran descended into intense civil unrest on Sunday and Monday as a catastrophic economic collapse set off widespread protests and strikes throughout Tehran.

The demonstrations center on the historic collapse of Iran’s currency, the rial. “Iran’s rial on Sunday plunged to 1.42 million to the dollar. On Monday, it traded at 1.38 million rials to the dollar,” the Associated Press reported. This depreciation, marked by a 7 percent single-day drop, effectively paralyzed commerce and fueled triple-digit inflation for essential goods.

The protests began on Sunday in Tehran’s commercial hubs, including the Grand Bazaar, the mobile phone markets of Alaeddin and Charsou, and the Lalehzar electrical district. By Monday, the movement gained significant momentum as thousands of merchants shuttered their shops in a coordinated strike against economic mismanagement and the skyrocketing cost of living.

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Demonstrators marched through the streets, chanting “Shut it down, shut it down” and “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid—we are all together,” while calling on security forces to join the people. In some areas, the state responded with force, using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds, while students at Amir Kabir University launched hunger strikes in solidarity.

Today in Tehran, shopkeepers poured into the streets because their money is becoming worthless. They are protesting the collapse of Iran’s currency but this is how dictatorships crack.
When daily survival becomes impossible, fear changes sides.

In 2019, economic collapse turned… pic.twitter.com/jGa9DXJ0nh

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) December 29, 2025

Iran: Public protests in Iran continue to grow as Iranians fill Khayyam street in protest of the Islamic regime in Iran. pic.twitter.com/tkJwVf8YVe

— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) December 29, 2025

People are flooding into the streets of Iran right now. Amazing to witness.

pic.twitter.com/Ifu8FwAJxF

— 𝐍𝐢𝐨𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐠 ♛ ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) December 29, 2025

🚨 Iran: Expansion of protests in Tehran – large gatherings of demonstrators at several points across the city – protesting the economic situation. pic.twitter.com/BWJQ8PdDD0

— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) December 29, 2025

The economic crisis is driven by a “perfect storm” of domestic and international pressures. Internally, the government faces an acute budget shortfall; officials admit that oil revenues for the year have already been exhausted, forcing the state to raid the National Development Fund. Lawmakers have also alleged massive corruption, reporting that $6.7 billion in oil revenue has been “lost” by entities affiliated with the Oil Ministry.

Externally, the restoration of “maximum pressure” by the Trump administration and the United Nations’ “snapback” of nuclear sanctions have crippled Tehran’s ability to access foreign currency. This diplomatic deadlock followed a major military escalation in June 2025, including Israeli and United States air strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

With average monthly wages falling to roughly $100 — well below the $450 required for basic survival — and food inflation exceeding 70%, the Iranian public’s patience has reached a breaking point. Observers note that the participation of the bazaar, which was instrumental in the 1979 Revolution, signals a dangerous turning point for the Islamic Republic.

As lawmakers warn of the “crushing sound of the people’s footsteps,” the regime faces its most significant threat of internal upheaval in years, caught between a collapsing economy and sustained military pressure.

Americans are over-diagnosed with mental health issues to receive chemical treatments rather than taking care of the spiritual lack at the root of the problem, according to Dr. Greg Gifford.

Gifford, an assistant professor of biblical counseling at The Master’s University, appeared on Morning Wire on Sunday to talk about his recent book, “Lies My Therapist Told Me,” in which he dissects an over-diagnosis of mental health issues in the United States.

Far more Americans are diagnosed with mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, than are truly suffering from physiological issues. Many such problems can be solved if the patients are willing to address deeper spiritual issues, according to Gifford.

“When you believe that all that there is is a natural explanation, when you have a naturalistic worldview, then you’re looking for a naturalistic category to explain what’s happening in your inner person,” Gifford told Daily Wire reporter Megan Basham. “Naturalism has set the stage for us to blame things on our brain that are not truly brain issues.”

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The process for diagnosing mental health issues relies on flawed arbitrary, naturalistic science. In addition, once a person is diagnosed with a mental illness, the “therapeutic terminology” used to describe a supposed chemical imbalance comes to define how a patient sees themselves–as a patient with an illness rather than a person with a spiritual crisis.

In reality, many people are missing a proper understanding of themselves and their relationship with God, leading to tension in their “mind” and soul that has been confused for a biological problem with their brain, according to Gifford.

“The mental health movement has actually confused the brain and the mind and used medical terminology to describe the immaterial mind, and our mind is not material. You can’t touch it. You can’t put it under a microscope. You can’t study it with scientific methods because it’s immaterial,” said Gifford.

To heal many problems seen as mental illness, Gifford says that people should go see their pastors before seeing a therapist.

“As a Christian, if you’re saying, ‘Wait a minute, I need to go to my psychologist, my therapist, to help me with my mind,’ I’m saying, no, I think you should actually go to your church and look to your pastor, and look to the means of grace that God has provided to bring about mind renewal, which is what the Bible calls it,” said Gifford. “You’re going to see better results than what your psychologist was ever going to provide for you.”

Watch the entire interview here.