The main points that are discussed in the geology of Iran include the study of the geological and structural units or zones; stratigraphy; magmatism and igneous rocks; ophiolite series and ultramafic rocks; and orogenic events in Iran.

Considering geological and structural units of Iran, three main structural units or zones could be distinguished in Iran. These units or zones are separated from each other by ophiolite–bearing sutures. Other criteria such as structural style, crustal character and age of basement consolidation, age and intensity of deformation, age and nature of magmatism, are used to subdivide these major zones into smaller elements. The three major units and their main constituents could be defined as the southern, central and northern units. The southern unit has a crystalline basement consolidated in the Precambrian time and a platform–type Paleozoic development and comprises the Zagros folded belt, southern and southwestern parts of the Zagros Mountains. This section made a part of the Arabian plate that was located on the margin of Rodinia and Pannotia in the Neoproterozoic, and of Gondwana in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic.

The central unit, which comprises the central Iran and the Alborz, is interpreted as an assemblage of fragments that were in the vicinity of the Arabian plate and formed a marginal section of Rodinia and Pannotia in the Neoproterozoic and of Gondwana in the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian. These fragments were detached from Gondwana in the Carboniferous. They were submerged, moved northwards, and were finally attached to the Eurasian section of the northern supercontinent Laurasia in the Late Triassic. These fragments or microplates were fused together and made the Iranian plate which was rejoined by Gondwanic Afro-Arabia in the Late Cretaceous. As Afro-Arabia moved northwards towards Eurasia, the Arabian plate ultimately collided with the Iranian plate in the Miocene. Finally there is the northern unit which is separated from the central unit by the North Iran Suture. It is characterized by continental crust including remnants of more or less cratonized former Paleozoic oceanic crust that seems to reflect the Paleotethys. The northern unit represents a marginal strip of the Hercynian realm of Central Asia- broadly overlapped by the Alpine realm. It was deformed and largely consolidated by the Early Cimmerian folding and the Late Alpine folding. The northern unit comprises the South Caspian Depression and the Kopet Dagh Range. These three main structural units are divided into some smaller geological and structural subdivisions which include the following zones:

This zone extends from Bandar Abbas in the south to Kermanshah in the northwest and continues through to Iraq. Zagros is in fact the northeastern edge of the Arabian plate. Some important features of Zagros include: Absence of magmatic and metamorphic events after Triassic, and low abundance of the outcrops of Paleozoic rocks. Structurally, it consists of large anticlines and small synclines and continuous marine sedimentation from the Carboniferous to the Miocene. On the whole, a sequence of Precambrian to Pliocene rocks about 8-10 kilometres in thickness has undergone folding from the Miocene to the Recent time in the Zagros Mountains. The Zagros fold and thrust belt was formed by the collision of two tectonic plates – the Iranian plate and the Arabian plate. This collision primarily happened during the Miocene and folded the entire rocks that had been deposited from the Carboniferous to the Miocene in the geosyncline in front of the Iranian plate. The process of collision continues to the present and as the Arabian plate is being pushed against the Iranian plate, the Zagros Mountains and the Iranian plateau are getting higher and higher. The Zagros mountain range, itself, has a totally sedimentary origin and is made primarily of limestone. In the Elevated Zagros or the Higher Zagros, the Paleozoic rocks could be found mainly in the upper and higher sections of the peaks of the Zagros Mountains along the Zagros main fault. On the both sides of this fault, there are Mesozoic rocks, a combination of Triassic and Jurassic rocks that are surrounded by Cretaceous rocks on the both sides. The Folded Zagros (the mountains south of the Elevated Zagros and almost parallel to the main Zagros fault) is formed mainly of Tertiary rocks, with the Paleogene rocks south of the Cretaceous rocks and then the Neogene rocks south of the Paleogene rocks.

This zone is located to the south-southwest of Central Iran and the northeastern edge of Zagros range. In the north and northeast, this zone is separated from Central Iran by depressions like Lake Urmia, Gavkhouni and faults like Shahr-e-Babak and Abadeh, and to the south-southwest by the main thrust fault of Zagros. A striking feature of this zone is the presence of immense volumes of magmatic and metamorphic rocks of Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. As far as the trends, and particularly the folding style is concerned, some researchers consider the Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone as being similar to Zagros; however, considerable differences exist in rock types, magmatism, metamorphism, and orogenic events. There are some similarities between Sanandaj–Sirjan and Central Iran.

This volcanic belt, which is usually called the Central Iranian Range, runs east and almost parallel to the Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone, and owes its existence to the widespread and intensive volcanic activity which developed on the Iranian plate from the Upper Cretaceous to Recent time. The peak of this volcanism happened in the Eocene. The Sahand-Bazman volcanic belt is supposed to have resulted from the collision of the Arabian and Central Iranian continental plate margins. It is represented by sub-alkaline volcanics that vary in composition from basaltic through andesitic to rhyolitic composition.

Located in a triangle in the middle of Iran, Central Iran is one of the most important and complicated structural zones in Iran. In this zone, rocks of all ages, from Precambrian to Quaternary, and several episodes of orogeny, metamorphism, and magmatism can be recognized. Central Iran in a broad sense, comprising the whole area between the North and South Iranian ranges. Within the Iranian plate the Central-East Iran microplate is bordered by the Great Kavir Fault in the north, by the Nain–Baft Fault in the west and southwest and by the Harirud Fault in the east. It is surrounded by the Upper Cretaceous to Lower Eocene ophiolite and ophiolitic melange. The microplate consists of different structural components; Kerman-Tabas Block, Yazd Block and Anarak-Khur Block.

Eastern Iran can be divided into two parts: Lut Block and Flysch Zone (flysch or coloured melange of Zabol–Baluch Zone). Located to the west of Zabol–Baluch Zone, Lut Block is the main body of Eastern Iran. Lut Block extends for about 900 kilometres (560 mi) in a north–south direction. It is bounded in the north by Dorooneh fault and in the south by Jazmurian depression. In the east, it is separated from Flysch Zone by the Nehbandan Fault, whereas the western boundary with Central Iran is Nayband fault and Shotori Mountains. The oldest units include upper Precambrian Lower Cambrian schists overlain by Permian limestone and other Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. Flysch Zone (Zabol–Baluch) is located between Lut Block to the west and Helmand (in Afghanistan) to the east. In contrast to Lut Block, the Flysch Zone is highly deformed and tectonized and consists of thick deep-sea sediments like argillaceous and silicic shales, radiolarite, and pelagic limestone and volcanic rocks such as basalt, spilitic basalt, diabase, andesite, dacite, rhyolite, and subordinate serpentinized ultramafic rocks. The basement is likely composed of an oceanic crust. Most rock units in this zone fall into three main groups: flyschoid sediments; volcanic, volcanosedimentary, and intrusive rocks; and ophiolitic series.