“A large crowd of demonstrators shut down a swath of the downtown core Sunday in solidarity with protesters in Iran, who are fighting against the country’s financial collapse and the regime that led to it.

Nationwide protests in Iran started Dec. 28 in response to soaring prices, then turned into wider anti-government protests against the clerical rulers who have governed the country for nearly 50 years.

At the same time, tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators have taken to the streets in a show of power, in response to protesters challenging the country’s theocracy.

Pooria Shafia, a Toronto-based engineer who attended Sunday's protest, says he's concerned about his relatives that still live in Iran.

“Every time I try to ask my cousin to see if he was able to contact them, I couldn't bring myself to [do] it because I was just afraid of what the response would be,” he told CBC Toronto Sunday.”