US lifts Eritrea sanctions with Red Sea in focus

The United States lifted sanctions on Eritrea on Friday that had been imposed in 2021 over the conflict in neighbouring Ethiopia, as Washington pointed to regional interests linked to Eritrea's Red Sea location.

The US Treasury published a notice saying the national emergency behind the sanctions had expired. The State Department said President Donald Trump chose not to renew the measures targeting Eritrea “to advance US regional interests.”

The sanctions were imposed in November 2021 and targeted the Eritrean Defense Force, President Isaias Afwerki's People's Front for Democracy and Justice, and other players in Eritrea.

Eritrean troops were accused of atrocities during the war in Ethiopia's Tigray region, where they backed the Ethiopian federal army. The war ended in late 2022 with a peace deal between Addis Ababa and Tigray rebels.

The conflict left at least 600,000 people dead and caused a major humanitarian crisis. Several hundred thousand people remain displaced.

A State Department official told AFP that implementation of the peace deal had been “uneven,” but said the United States believed it was time to adapt its foreign policy to current realities and engage with both countries to advance US interests.

Tensions have again been mounting in Tigray, raising fears of renewed armed conflict.