Diplomatic cable

The Zimmermann telegram, a coded diplomatic cable sent on 16 January 1917, from the Foreign Secretary of the German Empire, Arthur Zimmermann, to the German ambassador in Mexico, Heinrich von Eckardt

A diplomatic cable, also known as a diplomatic telegram or embassy cable, is the term given to a confidential text message exchanged between a diplomatic mission, like an embassy or a consulate, and the foreign ministry of its parent country.

The term cable derives from the time when the medium for such communications was international submarine communications cables. The term cablegram is also sometimes used. Due to the importance and sensitive nature of the subject matter, diplomatic cables are protected by the most elaborate security precautions to prevent unfettered access by the public, and unauthorised interception by foreign governments. They are always encrypted, frequently by unbreakable one time pad ciphers using key material distributed using diplomatic couriers.

See also

• Telegraphy
• United States diplomatic cables leak