The primary Al production industry poses significant environmental and energy challenges, making the recyclingof A356 Al alloy scrap highly attractive from both ecological and economic perspectives. A critical issue in recycling is theinevitable accumulation of Fe, which leads to the formation of coarse, brittle iron-rich intermetallics at lower solidificationcooling rates, severely degrading the mechanical properties. On this basis, the role of increased cooling rates in modifyingthe morphology and composition of these iron-rich phases was investigated. Using a copper mold technique to achieve arange of cooling rates (15~108 K/s), their impact on the microstructure of an A356 Al alloy containing 0.36 wt.% Fe wassystematically examined. The results demonstrate that higher cooling rates significantly refine the iron-rich phases andpromote a more uniform distribution. Phase analysis further revealed that at elevated cooling rates (72~108 K/s), theprecipitation of the detrimental β-Fe phase is suppressed, favouring the formation of the less harmful π-Fe phase.