Water and food security within the framework of the water-energy-food nexus is a multidimensional and complex phenomenon influenced by severe climate change, demographic pressures, economic development, urbanization, and rising demand across various sectors. Water scarcity can have physical origins (climatic, geographic, and unsustainable extraction and consumption) or economic origins (poor infrastructure and institutional capacity for access and management), and its persistence directly threatens food security, as increased food production inherently relies on water resources, with agriculture remaining the largest consumer of freshwater. In Iran, water governance faces structural challenges due to severe centralization, weak cross-sectoral planning, neglect of inter-sectoral conflicts and lack of conflict-resolution mechanisms, inefficiency in aquifer balancing target settings, weak problem-oriented research, and minimal stakeholder participation. Furthermore, ambiguities in groundwater ownership, insufficient and unreliable data, and inadequate financial mechanisms have reduced the capacity for effective policymaking and implementation. Remedial strategies include integrating policies across all water resources (surface, groundwater, coastal, and transboundary), strengthening stakeholder participation, reforming the pricing system and applying the true cost of water, enhancing institutional and human capacity, developing information systems and data monitoring, and systematically linking research with policymaking to increase water productivity and agricultural production sustainability.