Alpha-thalassemia (α-thal) is probably the most prevalent monogenic condition in 
the world. Deletions are the most common types of mutations in α-thal, followed 
by point mutations and small insertion/deletion. In the context of national 
screening program for prevention of thalassemia and hemoglobinopathies in Iran, 
α-thal carriers have come to more attention. Therefore, the frequency and 
distribution of α-globin mutations in various regions of the country have been 
studied in recent years. A comprehensive search was performed in PubMed, Scopus, 
and national databases for finding reports on mutation detection in α-thal 
carriers and HbH disease with Iranian origin. The mutation data of 10849 α-thal 
carriers showed that -α3.7 and α-5NT were the most common deletional and 
nondeletional mutations, respectively. In HbH disease cases, the -α3.7/--MED was 
the most prevalent genotype. Overall, 42 different mutations have been 
identified in α-globin cluster reflecting the high heterogeneity of the 
mutations in Iranian populations.