In today’s world, opinion polling serves as a key instrument for strengthening the legitimacy, accountability, and effectiveness of public policies. This article, employing a theoretical, analytical, and comparative approach, examines the role of opinion polling in Iran’s public policy-making. The theoretical framework of the study is based on James Anderson’s five-stage model of the policy cycle and the feedback theories of public opinion including James Stimson’s feedback model and Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann’s spiral of silence to analyze the role of polling at each stage of the policy process. The study relies on secondary sources and the comparative experiences of Germany and Japan. The findings indicate that in Iran, opinion polling lacks an institutionalized presence throughout all stages of policy-making from problem identification to evaluation and that decisions are often made on the basis of intra-organizational assessments and political considerations. Consequently, public policies tend to be less aligned with the actual priorities of society. The comparative analysis shows that the absence of a clear legal framework, institutional distrust, and restrictions on data dissemination are the main barriers to the effective use of opinion polling in Iran. Based on these findings, the article concludes that establishing a legal framework for polling institutions, integrating public opinion data into the policy cycle, and strengthening institutional and social trust in this instrument can elevate the role of opinion polling in the governance of the Islamic Republic of Iran from a marginal to an institutionalized and effective position.