Abstract: The invention concerns a method for iron reduction to make sponge iron which consists in: depositing a feed of iron ore on a grate and moving the grate so as to cause the feed to pass in at least three different zones; inputting gases, called input gases into one or several zones, including a hot gaseous carbonaceous reducing agent, and forcing said input gases through the ore located on the grate; and capturing the gases resulting from said forced passage, called output gases. The passage of the input gases brings the ore to a temperature ranging between 850° C. and 1300° C.; maintaining said feed at said temperature until an iron ore metallizing rate ranging between 60% and 100% is obtained. The feed deposited on the grate consists of either iron ore calibrated between 5 mm and 40 mm, or iron ore pellets having a diameter ranging between 5 mm and 20 mm, or iron ore granules of size between 2 mm and 10 mm, and the thickness of the deposited layer ranges between 150 mm and 600 mm.