This research aims to examine the role of the government in the governance of Iran's free and special economic zones and analyze how policymaking transitions from the legislative to the implementation level. The main question is what role the government has played in the creation, administration, and development of these zones and why their performance is far from the expected goals. Based on the research hypothesis, despite the existence of a supportive legal framework and investment incentives, institutional incoherence, politicized decision-making, managerial instability, and weak basic infrastructure have caused the development capacity of free zones to not be fully realized. The research method is qualitative and the data was collected through semi-structured interviews with experts and analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding. The results show that the government's policymaking in creating zones has been more quantitative and based on political pressures than development-based; while the implementation of existing laws, provision of infrastructure, performance evaluation system, and real delegation of authority face shortcomings. Comparison with successful global examples shows that developmental governance requires the quality of policy implementation, not just an increase in the number of zones. Accordingly, reviewing the governance style and strengthening implementation is considered a prerequisite for the future success of free and special economic zones in Iran.