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In Bacillus anthracis, an alternative to the use of chelating agents (siderophores) for acquiring iron consists in using a system of hemophores and transporter proteins for scavenging hemes from hemoglobin and delivering them into the bacterial cell. B. anthracis utilizes the siderophore-mediated way of acquiring iron predominantly at the intracellular stage of its development; the system of hemoinantly at the transporter proteins is used at the extracellular stage of anthrax infection. The structure, genetic organization and functions of the system for the heme iron acquisition in B. anthracis, understanding of which may facilitate development of new therapies for anthrax, are discussed.