The dog mtDNA diversity picture from wide geographical sampling but from a small number of individ-uals per region or breed, displayed little geographical correlation and high degree of haplotype sharingbetween very distant breeds. For a clear picture, we extensively surveyed Iranian native dogs (n¼305)in comparison with published European (n¼443) and Southwest Asian (n¼195) dogs. Twelve haplo-types related to haplogroups A, B and C were shared by Iranian, European, Southwest Asian and EastAsian dogs. In Iran, haplotype and nucleotide diversities were highest in east, southeast and northwestpopulations while western population had the least. Sarabi and Saluki dog populations can be assignedinto haplogroups A, B, C and D; Qahderijani and Kurdi to haplogroups A, B and C, Torkaman to hap-logroups A, B and D while Sangsari and Fendo into haplogroups A and B, respectively. Evaluation ofpopulation differentiation using pairwise F ST generally revealed no clear population structure in mostIranian dog populations. The genetic signal of a recent demographic expansion was detected in Eastand Southeast populations. Further, in accordance with previous studies on dog-wolf hybridization forhaplogroup d2 origin, the highest number of d2 haplotypes in Iranian dog as compared to other areasof Mediterranean basin suggests Iran as the probable center of its origin. Historical evidence showedthat Silk Road linked Iran to countries in South East Asia and other parts of the world, which mighthave probably influenced effective gene flow within Iran and these regions. The medium nucleotidediversity observed in Iranian dog calls for utilization of appropriate management techniques in increas-ing effective population size.