Referring Clues

• Ayatollah's land
• Country not in Rushdie's travel plans
• Imperial Guard's home
• Persia, today
• Site of a 70's revolution
• Neighbor of Turkmenistan
• Teheran's land
• Tabriz's land
• Side in a 1980's war
• Teheran's nation
• Big oil supplier
• A "-gate" opener
• Where Baha'i began
• Modern Media
• Shah's land, once
• Where Farsi is spoken
• 1979 revolution site
• Mullah's home
• Where Qum is
• Neighbor of Pakistan
• Persia, now
• Rug source
• Where diners use dinars
• Locale for 1999 solar eclipse watchers
• Qom home
• Carpet source
• Home of ancient Persepolis
• Mujahedin base
• It's south of Georgia
• 1980 combatant
• OPEC land
• Qum home
• Kingdom until 1979
• Caspian Sea adjoiner
• Big rug exporter
• Carpet place
• OPEC member
• Mideast theocracy
• Persian Gulf land
• 1979 hostage site
• Land on the Strait of Hormuz
• Zagros Mountains locale
• Mullah's land
• 1979-81 hostage site
• Neighbor of Afghanistan
• Revolution site of 1979
• Turkey toucher
• Farsi-speaking land
• Modern home of ancient Susa
• Neighbor of Azerbaijan
• Neighbor of Armenia
• Meshed's land
• Modern locale of ancient Persepolis
• Where Tabriz is
• Turkmenistan neighbor
• Home of many mullahs
• Tehran's locale
• Tehran's land
• Its flag says "God is great" 22 times
• Gulf land
• Bit of Kurdistan
• Modern locale of ancient 113-Across
• A theocratic republic
• Shiraz locale
• 1979 revolution locale
• Modern-day theocracy
• Dr. Seuss's "If ___ the Zoo"
• Part of Bush's "Axis of Evil"
• Part of Bush's Axis of Evil
• Mideast land
• Home of the Zagros Mountains
• Neighbor of Turkey
• It's about 200 miles south of Georgia
• Tehran's home
• Theodemocratic state
• Modern home of ancient Media
• Ayatollah's home
• Modern home of ancient Medes
• Setting of the 2007 animated film "Persepolis"
• Ahmadinejad's land
• Oil-rich land
• Modern-day Persia
• Ahmadinejad's country
• Modern home of the biblical Elam
• Home of Sharif University of Technology
• Teheran's country
• Home to many Kurds
• Founding member of OPEC
• Country for some Kurds
• Country on the Persian Gulf
• Shah's place, once
• Where Baha'i was founded
• Tabriz's country
• Where Khomeini ruled
• Land of Tabriz
• Qom's country
• Kuwait neighbor
• It was Persia in the past
• Heartland of the Persian Empire
• Strait of Hormuz adjoiner
• Where to find the Elburz Mountains
• Birthplace of Baha'i
• Pahlavi ruled there
• Persia today
• Pakistan neighbor
• Part of 47-Down
• Land in which Farsi is spoken
• Mideast country
• Persia, since 1935
• President Khatami's country
• Country on the Caspian
• Land on the Caspian
• Literally, "Land of the Aryans"
• Country which was once Persia
• "___ (So Far Away)" (1982 hit for A Flock of Seagulls)
• Scene of a 1979 revolution
• Tehran's place
• Khomeini's country
• Present-day Persia
• Where they speak Farsi
• Afghanistan neighbor
• One of the Persian Gulf States
• Nation once known as Persia
• Emerging nuclear nation
• Islamic republic
• Gulf of Oman adjoiner
• Caspian Sea nation
• Where Teheran is the capital
• Country renamed in 1935
• Azerbaijan neighbor
• Site of the Peacock Throne
• Persian Gulf power
• Coward's confession?
• Turkey neighbor
• Tabriz locale
• Current-day Persia
• Azerbaijan adjoiner
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's country
• Country on the Caspian Sea
• Middle East nation
• Persian Gulf country
• Nation bordering the Caspian Sea
• East Azerbaijan is a province in it
• Country across the Strait of Hormuz from Oman
• Where Pashto is spoken
• Charter member of 2-Down
• Modern home of ancient Persepolis
• Bahai's birthplace
• First landfall north of Oman
• Qum's country
• It borders the Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Gulf of Oman
• Where rials are spent
• Country across the Persian Gulf from Saudi Arabia
• Setting of the Dasht-i-Lut desert
• Meshed setting
• Teheran is its largest city
• ___-contra affair
• U.N. member since its inception
• Where the Qezel Owzan flows
• Setting of "Reading Lolita in Tehran"
• Charter member of OPEC
• Country on the Gulf of Oman
• 1982 Flock of Seagulls hit subtitled "So Far Away"
• Member of Bush's "axis of evil"
• Revolutionary Guard country
• It has a Supreme Leader
• "Persepolis" setting
• Sistan and Baluchestan is its largest province
• "Axis of evil" land
• Caspian country
• Persia, nowadays
• Country where Baha'i was founded
• Strait of Hormuz country
• Shah's domain, once
• Caspian land
• Qom's land
• Former home of the Peacock Throne
• Zagros Mountains country
• Bani Sadr was its president in 1980-81
• Dr. Seuss' "If ___ the Zoo"
• Muslim state
• Armenia adjoiner
• Rug exporter
• Ayatollah's country
• Iraq neighbor
• Its New Year's Day is in March
• Nation on the Caspian
• Where Tehran is
• Kurdistan's locale, in part
• Shahs' land
• Tehran's country
• Persia, in the past
• Cyrus' realm, today
• Oil source
• OPEC country
• Caspian Sea land
• Revolution land of '79
• Modern Persia
• Election locale of 2009
• Former shahdom
• Qum's land
• Persia's current name
• Where to hear Farsi
• The rial world?
• Home to Lake Urmia
• Land on the Persian Gulf
• Dr. Seuss' "If ___ the Circus"
• Side in a 1980s war
• Today's Persia
• Meshed locale
• Location of Qom
• Country in "rain"
• 1979 hostage locale
• President Ahmadinejad's country
• Shah's old place
• Farsi-speaking nation
• Rafsanjani's home
• Republic on the Caspian
• Oil-rich country
• Persian Gulf state
• It abuts Armenia
• One place Kurdish is spoken
• Tehran land
• Dr. Seuss's "If ___ the Circus"
• Neighbor of 1-Across
• Farsi-speaking country
• Central Eurasian nation
• Farsi speaker's land
• Country led by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
• Shah's realm, once
• Bain-Sadr was its president once
• Present Persia
• Persia, after 1935
• Home of Persepolis, now
• Response to "What did you do when you saw the bear?"
• Pahlavi's domain
• Lake Urmia locale
• Middle Eastern country
• Formerly Persia
• Land on the Caspian Sea
• Armenia neighbor
• Home of Persepolis
• Lake Urmia's locale
• Shah's former domain
• Rafsanjani's land
• Theocratic republic
• It's north of Oman
• Where shahs once ruled
• Persian Gulf nation
• Country with a Guardian Council
• Country divided in 111-Across
• OPEC founding member
• Caspian Sea country
• Where "dollars" are dinars
• Oil-rich nation
• Nation on the Gulf of Oman
• Tehran is its capital
• Tehran is its largest city
• Mideast nation
• Member of 22 Down
• Where qom is
• Tehran's nation
• Host of the 1974 Asian Games
• Qum country
• OPEC nation
• It abuts Turkey
• Nation on the Persian Gulf
• Land where Farsi is spoken
• Where the rial rules
• OPEC charter member
• With 47-Across, it stopped flying to New York in 1979
• Theocratic state
• "___ (So Far Away)": 1982 hit for A Flock of Seagulls
• Farsi-speaking republic
• Mashhad is its second-largest city
• Country in "rain"
• Dr. Seuss' "If ___ the Circus"
• Land south of the Caspian
• "--- All the Way Home"
• Qom's home
• Dr. Seuss' "If ___ the Zoo"
• "___ (So Far Away)": 1982 hit for A Flock of Seagulls
• Nation with severe penalties for being gay
• Persian's place
• "Bomb, Bomb ___" ("Barbara Ann" parody sung by John McCain)
• Iraq's foe for much of the 1980s
• Ahmadinejad's homeland
• Country by the Caspian
• Name derived from "Aryan"
• Armenia's neighbor
• OPEC co-founder
• "-gate" opener of the '80s
• See 21 Down
• "___ (So Far Away)" (1982 hit by A Flock of Seagulls)
• Where the Baha'i faith originated
• Elburz Mountains locale
• Tehran locale
• Islamic nation
• Ayatollah territory
• Esfahan's land
• Site of the Elburz Mountains
• Afghanistan's western neighbor
• Nation south of the Caspian Sea
• One of Turkey's neighbors
• Hormuz's nation
• Dr. Seuss' 'If ___ the Zoo'
• Dr. Seuss' 'If ___ the Circus'
• Dr. Seuss's 'If ___ the Zoo'
• Dr. Seuss's 'If ___ the Zoo'
• Dr. Seuss's 'If ___ the Circus'
• Boxer Barkley
• Persian Gulf borderer
• Tehran site
• Teheran locale
• Home of Sistan and Baluchestan
• 1974 Asian Games host
• Gulf country
• Land of lake Urmia?
• Land of lake Urmia?
• Shiite Islam is its state religion
• Modern home of ancient Elam
• Qom location
• World's leading saffron-producing nation
• Birthplace of polo, today
• Contemporary Persia
• Turkey is always next to it
• Big oil exporter
• Country that's an anagram of 49-Across
• Azadi Stadium setting
• Country bordering the Caspian Sea
• Setting of Mount Damavand
• Setting for the 2012 film "Argo"
• ___-Gate (Reagan-era scandal)
• Home to the Zagros Mountains
• It's bordered by three countries with "-stan" in their names
• Land with a red, white and green flag
• Mashhad's country
• Country with a supreme leader
• Arab nation
• Neighbour of Iraq
• Country on the Strait of Hormuz
• ___-Iraq War: '80s conflict
• Shi'ite state
• Home of Qom
• "If ___ the Zoo" (Dr. Seuss)
• "Argo" setting
• Target of 2006 United Nations sanctions
• Neighbour of Afghanistan
• Home to Asia's highest volcano
• Republic whose Supreme Leader is Ali Khamenei
• Home of the daily Hamshahri
• Gulf nation
• Persian Gulf republic
• Sunnite home
• Persepolis' land, today
• Hassan Rouhani's land
• Party in recent nuclear negotiations
• Country subject to 2006 U.N. sanctions
• Country whose name means "Land of the Aryans"
• Shahdom of yore
• President Rouhani's homeland
• Its capital is Teheran
• Nation in 7-Down
• Its capital is Tehran
• Qajar dynasty country, today
• Republic bordering the Caspian
• Country whose flag says "God is great" 22 times
• Shah's land
• Only nation with a Caspian and Indian Ocean coastline
• Homeland of Bahaism
• Where to find Tehran
• Place using dinars
• Rain anagram
• Where Kerman is
• Qom locale
• Kurdistan locale
• Place avoided by Rushdie
• Dry country whose name is an anagram of wet weather
• Major exporter of handmade carpets
• One of OPEC's founders
• Country bordering three "-stans"
• Neighbor of 23-Across
• Site of a 1953 C.I.A.-directed coup
• Setting for "Not Without My Daughter"
• Boxer Barclay
• Land of Isfahan
• President Rouhani's nation
• Iraq's neighbor
• Moslem nation
• Where some natives speak Azeri or Luri
• It was once Persia
• Where the Karun River flows
• Country in Argo
• Ahmadinejad's domain
• Iraq neighbour
• Party to a 2015 nuclear deal
• Persepolis site, today
• Shah's onetime domain
• Mashhad locale
• 6 Down neighbor
• Subject of Senator Tom Cotton's letter
• Persia no more
• Republic since 1979
• Seuss' "If ___ the Zoo"
• It was Persia
• Strait of Hormuz land
• 1980s war country
• 2015 nuke deal country
• Land on the Indian Ocean
• Its flag has four crescents
• Hassan Rouhani's country
• Shah's home
• 2015 nuke deal signatory
• Nation bordering Iraq
• Middle Eastern theocratic republic
• Land of Asia
• 10-Across's land
• Only remaining home of the Asiatic cheetah
• 2015 nuclear deal participant
• Second-largest Middle East country
• Turkey neighbour
• It's south of the Caspian
• Gulf republic
• 2015 nuke deal nation
• Theocracy since 1979
• Persian-speaking nation
• Land formerly ruled by a shah
• Shiraz setting
• Modern-day home of the classical poet Hafez
• Nation with the most natural-gas reserves
• Where shahs ruled
• Isfahan's land
• Persia, once
• Rafsanjani's country
• Teheran's nation
• Ahmadinejad's turf
• Shah's former land
• Country whose name is also a two-word sentence
• Part of Kurdistan is in it
• Locale of 10% of the world's oil reserves
• Earthquake site: June 21, 1990
• Maranjab Desert country
• U.S. occupation target in 2014's "RoboCop"
• Middle East republic
• Middle east trouble spot
• It's on the Gulf of Oman
• "___ so far away" (Flock of Seagulls)
• Isfahan's place
• New Persia
• Shiraz's country
• Neighbor of Iraq
• Country next to iraq
• Dr.Seuss's "If ___ the Zoo" (2 words)
• Turkey's neighbor
• Tabriz location
• Country in the RAIN?
• Dr. Seuss' "If ___ the Zoo" (2 words)
• Dr. Seuss book "If ___ the Circus"
• Abadan locale
• Side in 1980s war
• "Axis of Evil" member
• I fled this country
• Scattered rain in the country
• Nation with a Supreme Leader
• It was once ruled by a shah
• Land bordering the Persian Gulf
• Muslim republic
• Setting of Argo (2012 film)
• Country where ayatollahs replaced a shah
• Middle East Islamic republic
• Country where the official language is Farsi
• Rainstorm country!
• One fled the country
• Land of piranhas
• Country
• One managed to find it on the map
• Iraq's neighbour
• Artist in outlying Middle Eastern country
• Its official language is Persian
• Nation between Iraq and Afghanistan
• Country one managed to see
• 18th-largest country in the world
• Middle East country
• Nation whose leader was elected unopposed?
• I was in charge of the country
• I fled country
• Country and western finale by Gershwin
• One administered land
• Scaredy-cat's admission to the country
• Land east of the Persian Gulf
• President Rouhani's home
• Big pistachio producer
• Its nuclear program is the subject of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
• Nation north of the Strait of Hormuz
• It's west of Afghanistan
• Teheran's locale
• Country south of Georgia
• ___-Contra
• Country with the only remaining wild Asiatic cheetahs
• Nation that's home to Persepolis
• Rouhani's nation
• Site of Persepolis, now
• Mideast nation that borders the Caspian Sea
• Nation with a Caspian coast
• I fled 26 neighbour
• Country where Picaroon tried to get elected
• I controlled the country
• Country bordered by Afghanistan and Turkey
• Country bordered by Pakistan and Armenia
• I fled Middle Eastern country
• Setter governed country
• Setter fled Middle Eastern country
• Irish one in country
• Nation formerly in my command?
• Country where I was a candidate
• Four-crescent flag country
• Land of stormy rain
• 1980s foe of Iraq
• Country that was once ruled by the Ayatollah Khomeini
• Mideast nation in a 2015 nuclear deal
• Country since 1935
• Country that's west of Afghanistan
• Islamic Republic founded on 1 April 1979
• #2 Mideast nation in area
• Country from which the Shah fled in 1979
• Modern land in the ancient Sasanian Empire
• Middle Eastern country once known as Persia
• Middle Eastern country where most of the film "Argo" was set
• Revolutionary Guard nation
• Country, capital Tehran
• Mideast hotbed
• M East country
• Current name of Persia
• Scene of a 1979 overthrow
• Asian producer of nearly all of the world's saffron
• Baha'i's setting
• Some Azerbaijanis live there
• Is it much the same as Iraq?
• Theocratic state since 1979
• Country lying between Turkey and Pakistan
• Land of Farsi speakers
• Land including part of Kurdistan
• Tughrul Tower's nation
• Country south of Azerbaijan
• Land bordering Turkmenistan
• Teheran's site
• Nation on the Caspian Sea
• The land one managed?
• Longtime rival of Saudi Arabia
• The piranha's native country?
• "If ___ the Zoo" (Seuss book)
• Country near Iraq
• Land bordering the Caspian Sea
• A country I controlled
• Country whose name can also be a full sentence
• "Reading Lolita in Tehran" setting
• Abadan's locale
• Neighbor of 7-Down
• Country south of the Caspian
• Country west of Afghanistan
• 1978-79 revolution site
• Where Teheran is capital
• Persian is its official language
• Middle East's second-largest country
• Saffron-producing Middle East land
• Mideastern country
• Persia, presently
• Land with an ayatollah
• Middle Eastern republic
• Country once called Persia
• Where 29-Down took place
• Land south of the Caspian Sea
• Nuke deal signer of 2015
• Carpet-exporting land
• Country that anagrams to "rain"
• Modern-day Media
• An Islamic republic
• Country where rials are spent
• Iraq foe of the 1980s
• Country bordered by Iraq and Turkmenistan
• Shiraz's land
• Caspian sharer with 25 Across
• Country where "Argo" is set
• Ayatollah's domain
• Part of Xerxes I's realm, nowadays
• Seuss' "If ___ the Circus"
• Coward's confession? (2 words)
• Modern-day locale of ancient Persepolis
• Tehran’s land
• Country whose cities include Shiraz and Isfahan
• It's swallowed by piranha
• Setting of the graphic novel "Persepolis"
• Home of about 10% of the world's oil reserves
• Part of Alexander's empire, today
• Country where Nowruz is celebrated
• Asian country
• President Rouhani’s nation
• Where the biblical Esther and Daniel are purported to be buried
• Teheran's county
• Where shahs once reigned
• Nation bordering Pakistan
• Iraq's eastern neighbor
• Country between Turkey and Turkmenistan
• Land between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf
• President Rouhani’s home
• It shares a border with Armenia
• Nation on the Indian Ocean
• Country with a four-crescent emblem
• Country that celebrates Sizdah Bedar
• Country name that's an anagram of "rain"
• The land one managed
• Saffron-producing country
• Neighbor of Turkey and Turkmenistan
• Country in Satrapi's "Persepolis"
• Country that uses the Solar Hijri calendar
• Persepolis ruins locale
• Country whose name becomes another country if you change the last letter to a Q
• Country where Farsi is spoken
• Country that borders three "-stans"
• It's at the southern end of the Caspian Sea
• Where Shiraz is located
• Country where tahdig is eaten
• Where "dollars" are rials
• Country whose name could be parsed as a sentence
• Maryam Mirzakhani's birth country
• Country with a large Shia population
• Country in a rearranged "rain"
• Country known for rug weaving
• One fled to the country
• Place where Farsi is spoken
• Country across the Persian Gulf from the 29-Down
• Tehran Stock Exchange's country
• One side of a 2015 nuclear agreement
• Kiarostami's country
• Land with coasts on both the Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf
• Big exporter of saffron
• Country where the Gate of All Nations is located
• Country whose name ends in the same three letters as its capital
• Forugh Farrokhzad's country
• Country where Yalda Night is celebrated
• Persia
• Bandar Abbas' country
• Farsi is its official language
• Where Farsi is the national language
• Country that celebrates Nowruz
• Country where Maryam Mirzakhani was born
• Site of the Islamic Revolution of 1979
• Country that outlawed alcohol in 1979
• Rouhani's land
• Azadi Tower country
• It was Persia until 1935
• Home of many Zoroastrians
• Where zardozi embroidery is prevalent
• Setting of the memoir "Reading Lolita in Tehran"
• Land bordering Afghanistan
• Nation that follows the Solar Hijri calendar
• Nasir al-Mulk Mosque's country
• World's leading saffron producer
• Home of Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi
• Pakistan's neighbor
• Home country of Oscar-winning filmmaker Asghar Farhadi
• Global center of Shia Islam
• Isfahan's country
• Country that is an anagram for "Rain"
• Country that's the only remaining home to the Asiatic Cheetah
• Modern-day locale of the ancient Achaemenid Empire
• Big exporter of pistachios
• Nasir ol-Molk Mosque's country
• Asghar Farhadi's country
• Where polo was invented
• Site of 2022's "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests
• Home of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi
• Modern-day site of ancient Persepolis
• Jafar Panahi's country
• Its flag has "Allahu Akbar" written 22 times
• Googoosh's country
• Home of the poet Forugh Farrokhzad
• Pahlavi's former realm
• Country north of the Persian Gulf
• Country west of Pakistan
• Modern site of ancient Persepolis
• Abadan's land
• Country where Shohreh Aghdashloo was born
• Country with the Mahsa Amini protests
• Shirin Ebadi's birth country
• Country north of 40-Down
• Country that's home to Vakil Bazaar
• Country that anagrams to a weather forecast
• Maz Jobrani's birth country
• Big pistachio exporter
• Country of 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi
• Country that rearranged spells "rain"
• Country whose emblem resembles a tulip
• Persian Gulf country that borders Armenia
• Persepolis locale
• Mideast country with a Supreme Leader
• Modern-day home of Persepolis
• Home of Kurdistan's easternmost regions
• It's opposite Oman on the Gulf of Oman
• Country that uses the Jalali calendar rather than the Gregorian
• Islamic Republic in the Middle East
• Country home to Chogha Zanbil
• Possible response to "How did you get here so quickly?"
• Country where Narges Mohammadi was born
• Modern-day locale of the ancient Parthian Empire
• Country between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf
• Country with a Persian-speaking majority
• Founding member of 38-Down