Crossword Genius

Shows measure of intelligence sheltering artist from this country (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

iraq

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

'shows measure of intelligence sheltering artist from this country' is the definition.
'Iraq' can be an answer for 'country' (Iraq is an example). I am not certain of the rest of the definition.

'intelligence sheltering artist from this country' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'artist' could be 'ra' (Royal Academician, member of Royal Academy of Arts) and 'ra' is found in the answer.
'intelligence' could be 'iq' (short for intelligence quotient) and 'iq' is found within the remaining letters.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for iraq that I've seen before include "Country with WMD once?" , "Country bordering Syria" , "Asian area of conflict" , "Middle East country" , "Putter, perhaps" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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