The United States has suspended sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on the ruling party and the Eritrean armed forces, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The sanctions had been imposed in 2021 due to humanitarian and human rights concerns during a violent conflict in the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia.
Eritrean forces supported Ethiopian troops against fighters loyal to the Tigray regional government in the conflict, which ended with a peace agreement in November 2022.
Read also: Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of military aggression and support for armed groups
In a statement released on Friday (the 18th), the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said that sanctions had been lifted against several Eritrean individuals, including Hagos Ghebrehiwet, a key financial official.
The Red Sea Trading Corporation, linked to the ruling party, also had sanctions suspended.
The Eritrean Minister of Information, Yemane Gebremeskel, stated that the sanctions were unwarranted and caused considerable damage to his country. “In this sense, we welcome the gesture and the corrective measures of the Trump administration,” Gebremeskel told the Associated Press.
The removal of the sanctions comes at a time of growing concern about security in the Red Sea. Recent advances by the Houthis in Yemen have increased threats to navigation through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, while Eritrea’s southern coast and the Port of Assab lie near this strategic passage that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. (AP)
