The active tectonics of the Alpine–Himalayan Belt between western Turkey and Pakistan are investigated using 80 new fault plane solutions, satellite imagery, and historical earthquake data. The deformation in this region is dominated by lateral movement of continental material away from the Lake Van region in eastern Turkey, which helps avoid crustal thickening and allows shortening between Arabia and Eurasia to be accommodated by thrusting over oceanic basement in the southern Caspian, Mediterranean, Makran, and Black Sea. Central Turkey, bounded by the North and East Anatolian strike-slip faults, moves westward and overrides the eastern Mediterranean at two intermediate depth seismic zones. Northern Iran moves eastward from the Van region via strike-slip faults, leading to low-angle thrusting over the southern Caspian Sea. The Caucasus shows predominantly shortening perpendicular to the regional strike, with some minor elongation along the belt as it overrides the Caspian and Black Seas. The deformation in the eastern part of the region is dominated by shortening of Iran against the stable borders of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. The north-east compression in Zagros is also seen in north-east Iran and the Kopet Dag, where shortening is accommodated by strike-slip and thrust faulting. Large structural and palaeomagnetic rotations are likely in NE Iran due to this deformation. North-south strike-slip faults in southern Iran allow material to move away from the collision zone towards the Makran subduction zone, where intermediate depth seismicity is observed. Within the deforming belt, large areas such as central Turkey, NW Iran, central Iran, and the southern Caspian appear aseismic and behave as relatively rigid blocks surrounded by active belts 200–300 km wide. The motion of these blocks can be described by poles of rotation. The poles presented predict motions consistent with observations and also predict the opening of the Gulf of Iskenderun NE of Cyprus, the change in the Zagros from strike-slip to thrusting, and the relatively low seismicity in SE Iran (Baluchistan). This description also explains why north-south structures along the Iran–Afghanistan border do not cut the east-west ranges of the Makran. Within the active belts, a continuum approach is needed to describe deformation, even though surface motions may be concentrated on faults. The evolution of fault systems in active zones is controlled by geometric constraints, such as the requirement that active faults do not intersect. Many active processes discussed, particularly large-scale rotations and lateral movement along the regional strike, are likely to have caused complexities in older mountain belts and should be accounted for in any reconstructions of them.The active tectonics of the Alpine–Himalayan Belt between western Turkey and Pakistan are investigated using 80 new fault plane solutions, satellite imagery, and historical earthquake data. The deformation in this region is dominated by lateral movement of continental material away from the Lake Van region in eastern Turkey, which helps avoid crustal thickening and allows shortening between Arabia and Eurasia to be accommodated by thrusting over oceanic basement in the southern Caspian, Mediterranean, Makran, and Black Sea. Central Turkey, bounded by the North and East Anatolian strike-slip faults, moves westward and overrides the eastern Mediterranean at two intermediate depth seismic zones. Northern Iran moves eastward from the Van region via strike-slip faults, leading to low-angle thrusting over the southern Caspian Sea. The Caucasus shows predominantly shortening perpendicular to the regional strike, with some minor elongation along the belt as it overrides the Caspian and Black Seas. The deformation in the eastern part of the region is dominated by shortening of Iran against the stable borders of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. The north-east compression in Zagros is also seen in north-east Iran and the Kopet Dag, where shortening is accommodated by strike-slip and thrust faulting. Large structural and palaeomagnetic rotations are likely in NE Iran due to this deformation. North-south strike-slip faults in southern Iran allow material to move away from the collision zone towards the Makran subduction zone, where intermediate depth seismicity is observed. Within the deforming belt, large areas such as central Turkey, NW Iran, central Iran, and the southern Caspian appear aseismic and behave as relatively rigid blocks surrounded by active belts 200–300 km wide. The motion of these blocks can be described by poles of rotation. The poles presented predict motions consistent with observations and also predict the opening of the Gulf of Iskenderun NE of Cyprus, the change in the Zagros from strike-slip to thrusting, and the relatively low seismicity in SE Iran (Baluchistan). This description also explains why north-south structures along the Iran–Afghanistan border do not cut the east-west ranges of the Makran. Within the active belts, a continuum approach is needed to describe deformation, even though surface motions may be concentrated on faults. The evolution of fault systems in active zones is controlled by geometric constraints, such as the requirement that active faults do not intersect. Many active processes discussed, particularly large-scale rotations and lateral movement along the regional strike, are likely to have caused complexities in older mountain belts and should be accounted for in any reconstructions of them.