| TURKESTAN | Region in central Asia between Siberia in the north and Tibet, India, Afghanistan and Iran in the south (9) |
| ATWAR | Like Iraq and Iran, in the 1980s |
| KARAKUM | Great sandy region in Central Asia lying south of the Amu Darya river and occupying about 70 percent of the area of Turkmenistan. (7) |
| URAL | It borders Siberia in the game of Risk |
| NORTH | (and 6 Across) Lesotho and Iran in dispute for valuable commodity (5,3,3) |
| TEHRAN | Capital of Iran, in the NW in the foothills of the Elburz Mountains (6) |
| AIDA | The "A" in the so-called ABCs of Opera, the most-performed operas in the Met's history |
| MESOPOTAMIA | Region of SW Asia between the lower and middle reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (11) |
| IRAN | Second-largest country of the Middle East, in SW Asia between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf (4) |
| IBRAHIM | Identify the first name of this cricketer who won the player of the ODI series between Afghanistan and Bangladesh in UAE in October 2025. (7) |
| AMUR | Tenth-longest river in the world, forming the border between Siberia and Manchuria; Chinese, Heilong Jiang (4) |
| ARMENIA | A former kingdom in W Asia, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. (7) |
| BERINGSEA | Region of the North Pacific Ocean, lying between Siberia and Alaska (6,3) |
| PERSIANGULF | Body of water located in Western Asia between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula |
| NEPAL | A small Asian country high in the Himalayas between India and Tibet. |
| PERSIA | Aspire to reform Iran in the past (6) |
| HINDUKUSH | A major mountain system of Central Asia, primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Broadly defined, it is some 500 miles (800 km) long and up to 150 miles (240 km) wide. Its highest point is Tirich Mir. |
| SASHA | Army Labrador Retriever which served in Afghanistan and was awarded the Dickin Medal posthumously in |
| WATSON | Doctor who served in Afghanistan and who met his future wife while solving the case of 'The Sign of Four' |
| KHYBERPASS | Route through the Hindu Kush mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan that formed part of the ancient Silk Road (6,4) |
