OMM Redaksiyası
The United States has lifted sanctions on Eritrea, saying President Donald Trump decided not to renew a 2021 measure targeting the country in order to “advance US regional interests” in the strategic Red Sea region.
The US Treasury Department announced the decision on Friday, according to AFP, AP and Reuters. The sanctions had targeted Eritrean forces, President Isaias Afwerki’s People’s Front for Democracy and Justice and other state-linked actors.
Why the Red Sea matters
Eritrea’s position in the Horn of Africa could be strategically important as the Red Sea remains a key route for oil shipments while the Strait of Hormuz is blocked amid the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran.
Shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb strait has also faced growing pressure following recent advances by Houthi forces in Yemen against forces loyal to the country’s internationally recognised government.
Sanctions linked to Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict
The administration of former US President Joe Biden imposed the sanctions in November 2021. Eritrean troops had been accused of atrocities during the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where they supported the Ethiopian federal army.
The war ended in late 2022 with a peace agreement between Addis Ababa and Tigray rebels. The conflict killed at least 600,000 people, caused a major humanitarian crisis and left several hundred thousand people displaced.
Eritrea welcomes the decision
The sanctions were renewed annually under a presidential declaration of a “national emergency”, including last year under the Trump administration. On Friday, however, the Treasury said the national emergency had “expired”.
Eritrea welcomed the move. Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel told Reuters that sanctions imposed by the Biden administration five years ago had caused “incalculable damage” and were not justified.
A State Department spokesperson told AFP that implementation of the peace agreement had been “uneven”, but said Washington believed it was time to adapt its foreign policy to current realities and work with both countries to advance US interests.
