In fact, plants have to cope with two inevitable challenges including low availability of Fe and Na+ toxicity under saline–alkaline stress (Li et al., 2016). Fe often forms exceedingly insoluble hydroxides and oxides under alkaline conditions, thereby reducing its availability for plants (Romera and Alcántara, 2004). In this study, the mixtures of NaHCO3 and Na2CO3 were added into soils to mimic saline–alkaline conditions with high levels of Na+ and soil pH values. Overproduction of cellular ROS can be triggered by either Fe deficiency or high concentrations of Na+, which causes peroxidation of membrane lipid and proteins, and even cell death (Gong et al., 2014). Here, the SA03-inoculated plants experienced less ROS-mediated oxidative injury under saline–alkaline stress compared with the non-inoculated plants. This allowed us to conclude that SA03 conferred more efficient systems of plants to regulate the accumulation of Fe and Na+. To prove these assumptions, the Fe concentrations in both the non-inoculated and inoculated plants were firstly examined under saline–alkaline stress. A significant decrease of Fe concentrations was observed in shoots of the non-inoculated plants grown under the stress. However, the Fe concentrations remained relatively high in shoots of the inoculated plants. The results demonstrated that the SA03-inoculated plants equipped with an efficient system of Fe acquisition, thereby enhancing the adaptation of plants to Fe deficiency induced by saline–alkaline stress.