The United States removed sanctions Friday on Eritrea's ruling People's Front for Democracy and Justice, the Eritrean Defense Forces, and several affiliated entities and officials, according to the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. The removals followed the expiration of the national emergency established in 2021 over the humanitarian and human rights crisis in Ethiopia.

Among those removed from the sanctions list were the Red Sea Trading Corporation, Hidri Trust, and senior Eritrean officials Hagos Ghebrehiwet and Abraha Kassa Nemariam. The measures had been imposed in November 2021 under an executive order targeting Eritrean actors connected to the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region.

Eritrean forces supported Ethiopian federal troops during the Tigray conflict, which ended with a peace agreement in November 2022. The U.S. sanctions targeted specific Eritrean organizations and individuals rather than imposing a broad economic embargo on the country.

The sanctions' removal comes as the Red Sea has taken on increased strategic importance for the United States. Eritrea has a long coastline along the Red Sea and sits near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a major shipping route connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.

Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel welcomed the decision, saying the previous sanctions had been unwarranted and damaging to Eritrea. He described the action as a positive gesture from the Trump administration.

The State Department has previously identified Eritrea's strategic importance in the Horn of Africa while also documenting longstanding concerns about the country's political and human-rights record. The expiration of the emergency removes the sanctions imposed under that particular 2021 authority, but it does not eliminate every U.S. restriction or concern involving Eritrea.

The move could provide an opening for greater diplomatic engagement between Washington and Asmara as the United States focuses on security and stability around the Red Sea and the wider Horn of Africa.