US Lifts Eritrea Sanctions Imposed Over Tigray War — SkimNews
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- U.S. Treasury lifted sanctions against Eritrea's ruling party and military that the Biden administration had imposed in 2021 over humanitarian and human rights concerns in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region.
- Eritrea's forces had backed Ethiopian troops against Tigray fighters in a conflict that ended with a peace accord in November 2022.
- Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced on Friday, September 18, 2026, that sanctions on individuals including Hagos Ghebrehiwet, a key Eritrean financial official, and the state-owned Red Sea Trading Corporation had been removed.
- Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel called the original sanctions 'unwarranted,' said they caused 'considerable damage,' and welcomed 'the gesture and remedial measures by the Trump Administration.'
- Recent Houthi advances in Yemen have increased threats to shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the strategic passage connecting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden that lies near Eritrea's southern coast.
- Eritrea's port of Assab sits adjacent to that strait, placing the newly delisted country at the center of a Red Sea corridor now facing renewed militant risk.
Why it matters: Eritrea gains full diplomatic rehabilitation — including relief for state-owned Red Sea Trading Corporation and senior financial official Hagos Ghebrehiwet — just as Houthi shipping threats make Assab's location near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait strategically valuable again, suggesting the Trump Administration is realigning with a Horn of Africa player it needs as a Red Sea security partner.
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