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On 2005 February 22, the Dahuiyeh-Zarand earthquake, Mw 6.5, struck one of the most seismically active regions in south-central Iran, east of Zarand City in Kerman province,causing more than 500 fatalities. The causative fault of the 2005 Dahuiyeh-Zarand earthquake, a reverse fault, striking nearly EW and dipping to the north, was located within a mountainous region and therefore more difficult to identify compared to the range-bounded faults. Its identification, after the 2005 event, is very important for both the estimation of seismic hazard as well as for the damage and fatality functions. We have inverted six three-component nearfield strong motion waveforms to obtain the complete earthquake rupture history and slip distribution. Accelerograms are bandpass filtered with 0.2–1.0 Hz, and a length of 15–17 s of the waveforms is inverted. The lack of absolute timing has been successfully overcome by estimating, from the velocity model of the region, the propagation of P and S waves from the epicentre to the stations. The final fault slip model and the estimated source parameters are able to explain the observed waveforms. The rupture is found to be bilateral with a maximum slip of 2.4 m concentrated on two asperities in the west and east sides of the nucleation point at depths of 6–12 km. The western asperity is located to the east of Zarand City and beneath the Dahuiyeh village, which might explain why the Dahuiyeh village was totally destroyed by this earthquake.