Crossword Genius

In heart of eastern country, a capital city (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tirana

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'capital city' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'in heart of eastern country a' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'country' could be 'iran' (I've seen this before) and 'iran' is found in the answer.
'a' is present in the answer.
A single letter 't' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tirana that I've seen before include "Albanian capital" , "Take a train to the capital of Albania" , "capital city" , "Take a train to Albania's capital (6)" , "foreign capital" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.