The United States has lifted sanctions on the Eritrean Defense Forces (EDF) and several other Eritrean entities, following the expiration of a U.S. national emergency declaration related to the situation in Ethiopia.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the removals on Friday, September 18, 2026. The action followed the expiration of the national emergency established under Executive Order 14046, issued in 2021 in response to the humanitarian and human rights crisis associated with the conflict in Ethiopia.
The entities removed from the U.S. sanctions list included the Eritrean Defense Forces and Eritrea’s ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), along with other designated individuals and organizations. The sanctions had been imposed during the Biden administration over the role of Eritrean forces and other actors in the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
The decision comes amid renewed international attention to security and maritime activity in the Red Sea, where Eritrea occupies a strategically important position along a major shipping route. Reuters reported that analysts viewed the lifting of the sanctions as potentially significant for U.S.–Eritrea relations.
Reuters had previously reported, citing an internal U.S. government document, that the Trump administration was preparing to remove the sanctions. Eritrean officials did not immediately respond to Reuters’ initial requests for comment.
The latest U.S. action concerns sanctions imposed under the Ethiopia-related measures and is separate from the former United Nations arms embargo on Eritrea, which the UN Security Council lifted in 2018.