US lifts sanctions on Eritrea ‘to advance US regional interests’ in Red Sea

The sanctions, introduced during the Biden administration, targeted Eritrea’s governing party and the military.

US Treasury Department announced the lifting of the sanctions on Friday [File: Patrick Semansky/AP Photo]

The United States has lifted sanctions on Eritrea, with the Department of State saying President Donald Trump had chosen not to renew the 2021 measure targeting the country on the strategic Red Sea, “to advance US regional interests”.

Eritrea’s Horn of Africa location could be key amid the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran , as the Red Sea has become a key oil shipping route with the Strait of Hormuz blocked.

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However, shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb strait has come under increasing pressure due to recent Houthi advances in Yemen against forces of the country’s internationally recognised government.

The administration of former US President Joe Biden imposed the sanctions in November 2021, which targeted the Eritrean forces and President Isaias Afwerki’s party, the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice, as well as other players in the state.

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

The US sanctions had been renewed annually under a presidential declaration of a “national emergency”, including last year by the Trump administration.

But on Friday, the US Treasury published a notice, saying the national emergency had “expired”.

Eritrea welcomed the lifting of the sanctions, saying they had caused incalculable damage to the country.

“The unilateral sanctions imposed by the Biden administration five years ago were not warranted by any metrics … In this respect, we welcome the gesture and remedial measures by the Trump administration,” Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel told the Reuters news agency.

The conflict killed at least 600,000 people and led to a significant humanitarian crisis. Several hundred thousand people remain displaced.

A State Department spokesperson told the AFP news agency that while the parties’ implementation of the deal to end the war had been “uneven”, the US felt it was “time to adapt our foreign policy to current realities and collaboratively engage with both countries to advance US interests”.

这些制裁措施是在拜登政府时期推出的，目标是厄立特里亚的执政党和军方。

美国财政部周五宣布解除制裁。[图片：Patrick Semansky/AP Photo]

美国已解除对厄立特里亚的制裁。美国国务院表示，唐纳德·特朗普总统选择不再续签2021年针对这个位于战略要地红海沿岸国家的制裁措施，“以推进美国在该地区的利益”。

由于霍尔木兹海峡被封锁，红海已成为重要的石油运输通道，厄立特里亚位于非洲之角的地理位置可能在美以对伊朗的战争中发挥关键作用。

列表 1/3：比勒陀利亚和平协议达成后，埃塞俄比亚提格雷州的旧敌找到了新的突破口

列表 2（共 3 项）：埃塞俄比亚北部不断变化的联盟关系详解

列表 3（共 3 份）：埃塞俄比亚民族和冲突地区的视觉指南

然而，由于胡塞武装最近在也门对也门国际公认的政府军发动攻势，通过曼德海峡的航运面临越来越大的压力。

美国前总统乔·拜登的政府于 2021 年 11 月实施了制裁，制裁对象包括厄立特里亚军队、总统伊萨亚斯·阿费沃基的政党“人民民主与正义阵线”以及该国的其他势力。

厄立特里亚军队被指控在埃塞俄比亚提格雷地区的冲突中犯下暴行，当时他们支持埃塞俄比亚联邦军队。这场战争于2022年底结束，亚的斯亚贝巴和提格雷反叛武装签署了和平协议。

根据总统宣布的“国家紧急状态”，美国每年都会延长制裁期限，包括去年特朗普政府也延长了制裁期限。

但周五，美国财政部发布公告称，国家紧急状态已经“结束”。

厄立特里亚对解除制裁表示欢迎，称制裁给该国造成了无法估量的损失。

“五年前拜登政府实施的单边制裁，无论从哪个角度来看都是没有道理的……在这方面，我们欢迎特朗普政府的姿态和补救措施，”厄立特里亚新闻部长耶曼·格布雷梅斯克尔告诉路透社。

这场冲突造成至少60万人死亡，并引发了严重的人道主义危机。数十万人至今仍流离失所。

美国国务院发言人告诉法新社，尽管双方在执行结束战争的协议方面“不尽相同”，但美国认为“现在是时候调整我们的外交政策以适应当前的现实，并与两国合作，以推进美国的利益”。