The habitat is wetter and cooler than the surrounding desert of the Iranian Plateau, supporting the vulnerable goitered gazelle and small populations of the cheetah.

[2][3][1][4] The ecoregion extends for over 800 km along the mountain ridges of the Central Iranian Range, which runs northwest to southeast along western edge of the Iranian Plateau, and along a series of ranges on the eastern side of Iran and a small extension into Pakistan.

[2] At lower elevations the region transitions into the Central Persian desert basins ecoregion, which includes the Dasht-e Lut desert basin between the Central Iranian Range and the eastern ranges.

The Registan–North Pakistan sandy desert ecoregion lies in the Sistan Basin east of the eastern ranges.

[1] The forest-steppe areas feature widely spaced trees/shrubs of genus Pistacia (pistachio) and Amygdalus (almond).