The activity of the Damavand volcano (Central Alborz, northern Iran) began 1.8 Ma ago and continued up to 7 ka BP. Although the volcanic suite is clearly of shoshonitic affinity, only two petrographic types can be distinguished in the studied lavas: (1) weakly differentiated absarokites (49 < %SiO 2 < 51), scattered around the volcano but with a regional extension, (2) highly differentiated banakites (59 < %SiO 2 < 63), which form the bulk of the 4,000 m thick volcanic pile. All lavas are alkalic (3.7 < %K 2 O < 5), REE and LILE-rich (e.g., 85 < La < 148 ppm; 9 < Th < 32 ppm) and show highly fractionated REE patterns (69 < La/Yb < 115) and pronounced Nb-Ta negative anomalies. The absarokites are characterised by Sr (0.7045-0.7046) and Nd (0.51266-0.51269) isotope compositions close to the Bulk Earth values, and distinct from those of the banakites (0.7047 < 87 Sr/ 86 Sr < 0.7049, 0.51258 < 143 Nd/ 144 Nd < 0.51262). The Pb isotope ratios are also slightly lower in the absarokites than in the banakites (18.71 < 206 Pb/ 204 Pb < 18.77, 15.62 < 207 Pb/ 204 Pb < 15.63, 38.85 < 208 Pb/ 204 Pb < 38.91, and 18.77 < 206 Pb/ 204 Pb < 18.84, 15.62 < 207 Pb/ 204 Pb < 15.64, 38.94 < 208 Pb/ 204 Pb < 39.06, respectively).Overall, there is a clear tendency towards higher Sr, Pb and lower Nd isotope ratios with increasing degree of differentiation. This study suggests that the absarokites result from a low degree of partial melting (~5%) of a highly metasomatized mantle source, which inherited its characteristics from an old subduction setting. The initiation of volcanic activity 1.8 Ma ago results from variations in the lithospheric thermal regime, probably related to lithospheric delamination as proposed for Anatolia (Pearce et al. 1990). The banakites are mainly generated by extensive fractional crystallisation (~70%) of the absarokitic magma, with a limited amount (a few percents) of assimilation of an old crustal component, in the form of bulk assimilation or AFC processes, which both can explain the Sr, Nd and Pb isotope data.