The United States is set to remove sanctions against Eritrea, according to an internal government document reviewed by Reuters, in a move that reflects the escalating strategic importance of the Red Sea corridor in the context of ongoing global tensions.
The decision, expected to be announced around May 4 by the Trump administration, marks a significant shift in U.S. policy toward the Horn of Africa nation, which has been under various forms of U.S. sanctions and diplomatic isolation for years.
Geopolitical Calculations Behind the Move
The sanctions relief is widely interpreted by analysts as part of a broader strategic recalculation driven by the Iran conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. With the Persian Gulf increasingly destabilised, control over the Red Sea—a vital waterway linking the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean—has become a central focus for global powers.
Eritrea controls a strategically significant stretch of the Red Sea coastline, directly opposite Saudi Arabia. The importance of this maritime corridor has been amplified by the disruption of alternative routes, making the Red Sea more contested than at any point in recent decades.
A State Department communication reviewed by Reuters stated that Washington has “repeatedly communicated to Ethiopia that we oppose any attempt to acquire sea access by force.” The message was aimed at both Eritrea and Ethiopia, warning against “destabilising roles” each has played toward the other. Ethiopia, led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, has publicly declared that the country has a right to sea access—an assertion Eritrea has interpreted as a potential military threat.
The U.S. move is also seen as an effort to improve bilateral relations with Eritrea, which has had limited diplomatic engagement with Washington for decades, and to strengthen Washington’s strategic footprint in the Horn of Africa at a time when Chinese and Russian influence in the region has been growing.
Human Rights Context
Eritrea remains one of the most closed and repressive states in the world, ranked by Freedom House alongside North Korea for its restrictions on civil and political liberties. The country has not held national elections since winning independence from Ethiopia in 1993 and is governed under a long-standing state of emergency that permits indefinite conscription of men and unmarried women.
Human rights organisations have documented widespread abuses under President Isaias Afwerki’s 30-year rule, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, and severe restrictions on movement and expression. U.N. experts have also accused Eritrean forces of serious violations during their involvement in the Ethiopian conflict in the Tigray region from 2020 to 2022.
Despite these concerns, U.S. officials appear to have determined that strategic calculations around the Red Sea and the broader Horn of Africa outweigh the human rights dimensions of the relationship, at least for now.
Regional Implications
The sanctions relief could have significant implications for the Horn of Africa, where tensions between Eritrea and Ethiopia—historically bitter adversaries who fought a brutal war from 1998 to 2000—have resurged in recent years. The 2018 peace agreement brought temporary normalisation, but relations have frayed again, with sea access disputes pushing the two countries toward renewed hostility.
Regional diplomats suggest the U.S. move is designed to serve as both a carrot and a signal: an invitation for Eritrea to deepen engagement with Washington, and a clear message to Ethiopia that the United States will not support force-based approaches to resolving the sea access question.
For the wider region, the development also underscores how the global reordering of alliances—driven by the Iran conflict, shifting U.S. policy under the Trump administration, and intensifying great power competition—is directly reshaping African geopolitics in real time.