Overview
- The Treasury and OFAC published a notice on September 18 that the national emergency underpinning the 2021 sanctions had expired and removed the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice, the Eritrean Defense Forces, the Red Sea Trading Corporation, the Hidri Trust and several named individuals from US lists.
- The original 2021 measures were tied to allegations that Eritrean forces backed Ethiopian federal troops and committed abuses during the Tigray war, which ended with a 2022 peace accord but left large humanitarian harm and displacement.
- US officials said the decision reflects a strategic shift to better secure the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb shipping corridor, with the Trump administration choosing not to renew the executive order that created the sanctions framework.
- Eritrea welcomed the delisting while human rights groups warned that removing measures without explicit accountability conditions risks rewarding poor governance; banks and international partners are expected to move cautiously and keep extra checks in place.
- The change reopens formal channels for trade and banking with Eritrea’s state-linked firms but practical economic reintegration will likely be slow, and analysts say the move could reshape regional diplomacy and operations near ports such as Assab.