Loans totalling $359 million were approved for housing and water supply projects in Iran, the World Bank said on Wednesday.
The Washington-based global development institution said it approved $279 million to help with the initial phase of a long-term government project to expand water and waste facilities in the cities of Ahwaz and Shiraz.
About 96 percent of Iran's urban population has access to public water, but just 16 percent is connected to sanitary public sewage and only part of collected sewage is treated before it is disposed, the bank said.
The bulk of sewage is discharged untreated, polluting and poses a risk to public health, the bank added.
It also approved $80 million, the first installment of a 12-year $264 million lending program, to support the Iranian government's housing goals.