Diplomatic bag

A sealed container used to carry official diplomatic documents or articles between a state and its diplomatic missions. International law protects it from being opened or detained.

Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations: The 1961 treaty that codifies rules governing diplomatic missions and relations between states. Article 27 establishes the diplomatic bag’s inviolability and rules for identifying it.
Diplomatic mission: An official representation through which one state conducts relations with another. Diplomatic bags connect a mission with its sending state and other authorized missions.
Congress of Vienna: The 1814–1815 diplomatic conference that reorganized Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. Its rules on diplomatic ranks helped shape the broader legal order governing diplomatic missions.
United States diplomatic pouch dispute with Iran: A 1980s dispute over U.S. diplomatic shipments to Iran and allegations that a pouch contained unauthorized material. The controversy illustrates tensions between bag inviolability and claims of misuse.
Confidentiality: The protection of information from disclosure to unauthorized people or institutions. Protection from inspection helps preserve the secrecy of official diplomatic communications.
Diplomatic courier: A person authorized to transport and protect a state’s diplomatic communications. Couriers carry bags under personal protection and receive official documentation.
Diplomatic relations: Official interactions between states conducted through recognized representatives and institutions. The bag’s protection exists within the legal framework of relations between states.
Vienna Convention on Consular Relations: The 1963 treaty codifying the rights and duties of consular posts and officials. Article 35 sets rules for consular bags, including a limited procedure for requesting inspection.
Diplomatic bag smuggling allegations: Public allegations that diplomatic bags have been used to transport prohibited or unauthorized goods. Such allegations raise questions about enforcement without breaching treaty protections.
Diplomatic security: Measures that protect diplomatic personnel, premises, information, and operations from threats. Secure transport of official materials is one part of protecting diplomatic operations.

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Diplomatic cableCompared with: A pouch carries physical materials; a cable transmits a message electronically or by telegraph.