Is linked list a preferable underlying basic DS for a collection mutable through an iterator
Well, if you're looking for easiness of operations, I would recommend a vector. Vectors support a wide array of operations, providing a large number of top-level methods, and iterators namely std::iterator, reverse iterator, and a lot more. With these top-level functions and iterators however, comes the caveat of not being able to modify these to suit your needs. Consider all of this when making the choice.