US lifts sanctions on Eritrea's military and ruling party

The United States has lifted sanctions on Eritrea's military, its ruling People's Front for Democracy and Justice, and the state-linked Red Sea Trading Corporation. The sanctions, originally imposed in 2021 by the Biden administration over human rights abuses in Ethiopia's Tigray conflict, expired on September 18, 2026, after the Trump administration let Executive Order 14046 lapse. The move reflects a strategic pivot toward the Horn of Africa to secure shipping routes in the Red Sea against Houthi threats.

US sanctions delisting on Eritrea

• ▪The United States Department of the Treasury removed individual sanctions against Hagos Ghebrehiwet Woldekidan, a key Eritrean financial official, and Abraha Kassa.
• ▪Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel welcomed the removal of sanctions on Eritrea's military and ruling party, calling the original sanctions unwarranted and damaging to Eritrea
• ▪The United States Department of the Treasury removed sanctions against the People's Front for Democracy and Justice, the Eritrean Defense Forces, and the Hidri Trust.
• ▪The United States Department of the Treasury formally lifted sanctions against Eritrea's military, ruling political party, and other key entities and individuals on September 18, 2026.

Eritrea's Tigray conflict involvement

• ▪Eritrean forces backed Ethiopian federal troops against fighters loyal to the regional government of Tigray in a conflict that ended with a peace accord in November 2022.
• ▪The United States originally imposed sanctions in September 2021 over humanitarian and human rights concerns during the violent conflict in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray.
• ▪The conflict in northern Ethiopia uprooted many people from their homes in Tigray, Amhara, and Afar, and resulted in tens of thousands of deaths.

Red Sea strategic significance

• ▪Eritrea's southern coast and the port of Assab lie near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a strategic passage connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that handles roughly 12% of global seaborne commerce.
• ▪The United States' delisting of sanctions on Eritrea's military and ruling party comes amid rising concerns about security in the Red Sea, where Houthi advances in Yemen threaten shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait

Red Sea Trading Corporation

• ▪The United States Department of the Treasury removed sanctions against the Red Sea Trading Corporation, a state-linked entity that controls much of Eritrea's external trade.
• ▪The presence of the Red Sea Trading Corporation on the Specially Designated Nationals List had effectively walled off Eritrea's formal economy from the international financial system before it was delisted on September 18

Executive Order 14046 expiration

• ▪Executive Order 14046 was originally declared in September 2021 by then-President Joe Biden to target entities and individuals threatening peace and stability in Ethiopia.
• ▪The United States sanctions on Eritrea expired on September 18, 2026, alongside Executive Order 14046, which the Trump administration allowed to lapse rather than actively revoking.