Iron edicts, fierce instructions (10)
I believe the answer is:
directions
'instructions' is the definition.
('direction' can be a synonym of 'instruction')
'iron edicts fierce' is the wordplay.
'fierce' is an anagram indicator.
'iron'+'edicts'='ironedicts'
'ironedicts' with letters rearranged gives 'DIRECTIONS'.
(Other definitions for directions that I've seen before include "News reveals four" , "North, south, east and west?" .)