This study evaluated the effects of superimposed hydrostatic pressure (138 to 1104 MPa) on densification and plastic flow behavior of porous iron (0.3 to 11.1 % porosity). Pressurization alone caused densification of the porous iron with the effect being most pronounced when the porosity was greater than 3.7% and the pressure above 276 MPa. For the porosities studied, densification as a result of pressurization increased with hydrostatic pressure and initial porosity. The 0.3% porosity iron was the only one whose density did not increase with pressurization or deformation under pressure. The effect of hydrostatic pressure on the flow stress of porous iron was small when densification resulting from pressurization was not a factor. The ductility was found to increase linearly with pressure and the effect of pressure on fracture strain increased with the initial porosity of the iron. Evaluation of the effect of hydrostatic pressure on development of porosity and growth during tensile deformation was limited to hydrostatic pressures of 138 and 276 MPa and iron compacts with initial porosities of 0.3, 1.5, and 3.7% because of the pressurization effects. It appeared that the porosity at fracture was similar in these compacts at both pressures but it was much larger than that observed at 0.1 MPa. The greater ductility of the iron compacts tested under hydrostatic pressure results from a decrease in the growth of pores with deformation and from a greater damage tolerance prior to fracture. As observed for porosity, the average maximum pore diameters at fracture for the compacts tested under pressure were similar but larger than those observed at 0.1 MPa. It appears that a general model of ductile fracture for porous materials cannot be based solely on a critical degree of dilation or on maximum pore extension as a fracture criterion.