In 1980, he sensed that Iran was weak and attacked across the Shatt al-Arab waterway.

BBC: Saddam Hussein: US target

In 2004, eight British servicemen were held in Iran after being seized in the Shatt al-Arab waterway, where they were training the Iraqi river patrol service.

BBC: Iranian navy detains five Britons on yacht in Gulf

Iraqis complain that, were it not for sanctions, foreign ships would be overflowing from cramped Umm Qasr to the port of Basra, 80 kilometres up the Shatt al-Arab waterway from the Gulf.

ECONOMIST: The Gulf