Editing Crypto AG (section)

===Use in Countries That Bought Crypto AG Devices===
Crypto AG sold encryption equipment to over 120 countries, including military juntas in Latin America, nuclear powers like India and Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, Libya, and the Vatican, primarily from the Global South. Major Western adversaries, Russia and China, never trusted Crypto and avoided its products, limiting exposure but allowing the U.S. to monitor their interactions with client states.

Latin America (Operation Condor): Condor nations (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia) used Crypto devices like the CX-52 (Brazil) and H-4605 (Argentina, NSA-designed) for secure communications. The CIA and NSA decrypted these, monitoring military regimes’ repression and terrorism, including Argentina’s plans during the 1982 Falklands War, which were shared with the UK. A 1977 CIA cable details Condortel’s use of Crypto equipment, enabling surveillance of dissident abductions (e.g., Norberto Habegger, 1978).

Middle East: Iran’s use of Crypto devices during the 1979 hostage crisis allowed the NSA to monitor Tehran’s reactions, informing the Carter administration 85% of the time, per NSA Director Bobby Ray Inman. Libya’s communications post-1986 La Belle discotheque bombing were intercepted, justifying U.S. retaliation (Operation El Dorado Canyon). Egypt’s negotiations during the 1978 Camp David Accords were monitored, with NSA feeding intelligence to Israel.

Other Regions: The 1991 assassination of Iran’s former Prime Minister Shapour Bakhtiar was confirmed via a Crypto-transmitted message from Iranian intelligence. In 1989, U.S. knowledge of Panama’s Manuel Noriega hiding in the Vatican embassy during Operation Just Cause came from Crypto intercepts. Over 100 states, including EU/NATO allies like Ireland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Turkey, were spied on, causing BND-CIA tensions, as Germany opposed spying on allies.