Energy, as a fundamental pillar of sustainable development, national security, and territorial governance, plays a vital role in promoting economic growth, social welfare, and the geopolitical standing of nations. Iran continues to face persistent energy imbalances, weak institutional coordination, ineffective policymaking, geopolitical constraints, technological backwardness, and escalating environmental challenges, all of which underscore the urgent need to reform the country's energy governance system. This study aims to identify, explain, and comprehensively analyze the challenges of energy governance in Iran and to develop a policy framework for enhancing the effectiveness of the energy governance system based on expert perspectives. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with experts using purposive sampling and were analyzed through thematic analysis based on the Attride-Stirling thematic network approach with the aid of MAXQDA software. The findings identified six overarching themes: institutional fragmentation and ineffective policymaking structures; inefficient resource allocation and the political economy of energy; a weakened geopolitical position and passive energy diplomacy; technological rigidity and the digital infrastructure modernization gap; environmental challenges and barriers to the energy transition; and erosion of social capital and deficiencies in participatory governance. The results indicate that the challenges of energy governance in Iran are rooted primarily in institutional weaknesses, political economy constraints, geopolitical limitations, technological underdevelopment, barriers to energy transition, and declining social capital. These factors reinforce one another, creating a cycle of structural inefficiency. Based on these findings, the study proposes a comprehensive policy framework for reforming and improving Iran's energy governance system.