This work investigates the initial growth of iron and iron oxides on Ag(001). Surface structure and morphology of both post deposition annealed Fe films (in UHV and O2 atmosphere) as well as reactive grown iron oxide films will be analyzed in detail by low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The stoichiometry at the surface of the iron oxide films will be determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). The main focus of this work is to shed light on the question whether the growth of iron oxide films on Ag(001) is accompanied by the formation of strain reducing dislocation networks, or superstructures as found for other metal substrates in former studies. Here, we will distinguish between Fe films which were post deposition annealed in a thin O2 atmosphere and reactively grown iron oxide films.