US lifts sanctions on Eritrea ‘to advance US regional interests’ in Red Sea

The US has lifted sanctions imposed on Eritrea in November 2021 after the Trump administration declined to renew a presidential declaration of a national emergency linked to the measures. The Treasury Department published a notice saying the national emergency had “expired,” ending the sanctions that had targeted Eritrean military forces, President Isaias Afwerki’s ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice, and other state-aligned actors. US officials framed the change as a policy adjustment to reflect current realities in the region. A State Department spokesperson told AFP that, despite uneven implementation of the 2022 peace deal that ended the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, the United States sought to “adapt our foreign policy to current realities and collaboratively engage with both countries to advance US interests.” The State Department specifically linked the move to advancing US regional interests in the strategically important Red Sea. The decision comes as the Red Sea corridor has gained prominence for oil shipments amid disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz. Shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb strait has also been under growing pressure following advances by Houthi forces in Yemen, raising concerns about security along key maritime routes. Eritrea welcomed the lifting of the sanctions. Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel told Reuters that the 2021 measures were unwarranted and had caused “incalculable damage,” and described the Trump administration’s action as a remedial gesture. The sanctions had originally been imposed after accusations that Eritrean troops committed atrocities while fighting alongside Ethiopia’s federal forces in the Tigray war, a conflict that killed at least 600,000 people and left several hundred thousand displaced before a peace agreement in late 2022.