Western Iran lies within the Zagros fold-and-thrust belt, one of the most seismically active continental regions on Earth, created by the ongoing collision of the Arabian Plate with the Eurasian Plate. This convergence crumples the crust into great mountain ranges and loads a dense network of active faults with earthquake energy along the country's western border.
The region has suffered many deadly earthquakes, including the 2003 Bam disaster in the southeast and the 2017 Kermanshah earthquake on the Iran–Iraq border, which killed hundreds. Although the Zagros itself lacks active volcanoes, Iran's broader landscape includes dormant volcanic peaks such as Damavand, the highest mountain in the Middle East.