Specific features of mechanical behaviour of ultra fine grained iron subjected to friction treatment with nitriding (FN) were clarified by comparison with that induced by friction treatment (FT) with air. Mechanical parameters such as Young's modulus, nanohardness, and plasticity characteristic delta(A) were found to be of high sensitive both to the scale of grain structure and to iron modification by nitrogen. Young's modulus tends to decrease and Hall-Petch low fails to describe correlation between grain structure and hardness for submicro-grained and nanocrystalline iron. Hall-Petch coefficient, kappa(y), decreases as grain size decreases within submicro-grained and, then, nano grained sections and it takes even negative value in nano grained section modified by nitrogen. Parameter delta(A) is found to be dependent on combination of hardness and Young's modulus, resulting in its variation with decreasing the grain size. The presence of secondary nanocrystalline Fe4N phase fundamentally changes mechanical behaviour of nanocrystalline iron, leading to strengthening the grain boundaries and triple junctions.