The present study investigates English language teaching (ELT) curriculum planning in Iran%s Ministry of Education and its implementation by teachers. We studied programme evaluation; needs analysis; the ELT‐specific documents; communication channels between planning and practice levels; teacher evaluation and student assessment; interpretation and re‐examination of national policies within the Ministry; and the criteria set for ELT material development. Instrumentation included: curriculum documents; interviews with Ministry officials, material developers and headteachers; and teacher questionnaires. Results attested to the lack of any ELT‐specific document for material development and absence of research‐based needs assessment as the foundation of the programmes. Also, there are no pre‐defined linguistic and professional criteria for evaluating teachers, and planning for students' assessment is limited to a set of general guidelines. Moreover, there is neither a programme evaluation nor an ELT evaluation model and national‐level policies are not re‐examined at planning level. Results also indicate that politico‐ideological beliefs of material developers are as important as their expertise and communication channels between planning and practice levels are of a top‐down nature. It is argued that the gap between planning and practice results from a highly centralised policymaking process in which local policymakers (i.e. teachers) are not involved.