An agreement to restrict Iran’s nuclear development program in exchange for sanctions relief has resurrected Republican fears that Tehran’s strengthened finances could inadvertently jumpstart the country’s cyber warfare efforts. 
“I think potentially lifting the sanctions fuels their support of terrorism, whether that’s cyber, whether it’s conventional weapons purchases,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) told reporters Tuesday.

Critics of the talks, including many Republicans, think the deal could leave loopholes that enable Iran to continue attempts to gain nuclear weapons.
Cyber experts have been sparring for months over the effects a successful nuclear pact might have on Iran’s rapidly accelerating cyber program, which has already infiltrated critical networks in over a dozen countries, including the U.S.
But the completed pact will also help fill Tehran’s coffers, potentially giving the country’s cyber program access to better technology and training, speeding the already rapid pace at which the country is becoming a major cyber power.
“It could,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), an Intelligence Committee member, told reporters. “That’s one of the questions.”
Over the last few years, Iran has surpassed almost any other country in its focus on bolstering its cyber program, experts say. By most estimates, it’s become a top-five cyber power worldwide, rapidly closing in on China and Russia as a major digital adversary to the U.S.
“Iran, along with Russia and China, are among the most active state perpetrators of cyberattacks,” Collins said.
A recent bruising digital assault on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) left over 22 million people’s most sensitive data in the hands of suspected Chinese hackers. The incident has highlighted the damage a foreign power can inflict through cyberspace.
Iran, Burr said, has “been capable of doing that for awhile.”
“That’s a concern,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) told The Hill. “But their sophistication level [on cyber] isn’t at the level of the Chinese, the Russians. But it’s still certainly a significant issue.”

The Hill, 14 July 2015