The development of pressurized irrigation systems (PIS) in the country’s policies initially aimed to improve on-farm water management. Over time, the focus expanded to address broader watershed-scale objectives, such as mitigating groundwater aquifer depletion. This article traces the discourse on this issue within the government, the Islamic Parlement and their research institutes, as well as its incorporation into respected laws and programs. The review reveals that expectations for these systems were unrealistic, owing to the absence of a comprehensive technical and economic evaluation. The failure to distinguish between 'depletion and withdrawal' with 'farm and basin scales' has been a persistent challenge, distorting the conceptualization of 'water productivity.' The Presidential Center for Strategic Studi, the Parlement Research Center and a few of the government research institute have conducted independent assessments of PIS that diverge significantly from the approaches adopted by the parlement and the government. This discrepancy highlights the limited policy influence of these research centers in shaping relevant legislation and planning. Such experiences underscore the systemic challenges in addressing the water and environmental crisis. Shaped by the nation's political economy, certain opportunities emerge that not only mitigate the water crisis but also create compounding threats that intensify the crises. This dynamic has led to a paradoxical outcome: the PSI, originally conceived as a means to achieve solutions, has itself become the end goal.