Crime with a Middle Eastern motive (7)
I believe the answer is:
treason
'crime' is the definition.
(I know that treason is a type of crime)
'with a middle eastern motive' is the wordplay.
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'a middle' says to take the centre.
'motive' becomes 'reason' (reason is a kind of motive).
The centre of 'eastern' is 't'.
't' next to 'reason' is 'TREASON'.
(Other definitions for treason that I've seen before include "Crime agains one's country" , "Act of betrayal of a government" , "Senator (anag)" , "Lese-majesty" , "Crime of treachery against the state" .)