The aim of the present study is to investigate the patterns of policy change ‎in the Lake Urmia subsystem by using the Advocacy Coalition ‎Framework as one of the most prominent theories for analyzing and ‎explaining the policy-making process and, based on that, policy change. ‎ Data were ‎collected through interviews with policy experts involved in Lake Urmia ‎governance and through official documents, and were analyzed using ‎qualitative content analysis. The results show that policy change in this ‎subsystem has been driven by policy feedback, focusing events, policy-‎oriented learning, and external perturbations such as changes in ‎government. Furthermore, Iran’s political system and the conflicts ‎embedded in the subsystem, by enabling top-down decision-making with ‎limited consensus, have shaped the trajectories of policy change. This ‎process has also generated the “devil shift” phenomenon, which constrains ‎fundamental change in core policy beliefs. These findings provide ‎practical implications for policymakers by highlighting more effective ‎approaches to conflict management and by facilitating more impactful ‎change through the participation of all coalitions within the Lake Urmia. ‎