conflict steven roberts 
Umm Qasr ( also transliterated as " Um - qasir ", " Um - qasser "), is a port city in southern Iraq . It stands on the canalised Khawr az - Zubayr , part of the Khawr Abd Allah estuary which leads to the Persian Gulf . It is separated from the border of Kuwait by a small inlet . A bridge across the waterway linked the port with Kuwait prior to the 1991 Persian ___MASK82___ . The ___MASK74___ was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States - led coalition that toppled the government of Saddam Hussein . The conflict continued for much of the next decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the post - invasion Iraqi government . An estimated 151 , 000 to 600 , 000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first 3  4 years of conflict . The United States officially withdrew from the country in 2011 but left private security contractors in its place to continue the war . It again became re - involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition ; the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue . ___MASK64___ ( OEF ) comprises several subordinate operations : Iran (, also , ; ' ), also known as Persia , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (' ), is a sovereign state in Western Asia . It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia , the " de facto " Nagorno - Karabakh Republic , and Azerbaijan ; to the north by the Caspian Sea ; to the northeast by Turkmenistan ; to the east by ___MASK69___ and Pakistan ; to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman ; and to the west by Turkey and Iraq . Comprising a land area of , it is the second - largest country in the Middle East and the 18th - largest in the world . With 82 . 8 million inhabitants , Iran is the world ' s 17th - most - populous country . It is the only country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline . The country ' s central location in Eurasia and Western Asia , and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz , make it of great geostrategic importance . Tehran is the country ' s capital and largest city , as well as its leading economic center . Basra , also al - Barah , is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al - Arab between Kuwait and Iran . It had an estimated population of 1 . 5 million in 2012 . Basra is also Iraq ' s main port , although it does not have deep water access , which is handled at the port of Umm Qasr . Sergeant Steven Mark Roberts was the first British soldier to die in the ___MASK80___ on 24 March 2003 . He was accidentally shot by a colleague using a tank - mounted machine gun who was trying to help Roberts as he struggled with a stone - wielding Iraqi protester at Az Zubayr , near Basra . The Iraqi protester was killed in that same incident . The gunner who shot Roberts who had not been taught that the gun was harder to aim at short range . Sgt Roberts had been serving with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment , Cyclops Squadron . The ___MASK80___ lasted from 20 March to 1 May 2003 and signalled the start of the ___MASK74___ , which was dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom by the United States ( prior to 19 March , the mission in Iraq was called Operation Enduring Freedom , a carryover from the War in Afghanistan ). The invasion consisted of 21 days of major combat operations , in which a combined force of troops from the United States , the United Kingdom , Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and deposed the Ba ' athist government of Saddam Hussein . The invasion phase consisted primarily of a conventionally fought war which included the capture of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad by American forces with the implicit assistance of the United Kingdom alongside Australia and Poland .