The United States has removed sanctions on Eritrea's Defence Forces, the country's ruling party and four other Eritrean entities and individuals after the expiry of an emergency authority created during the war in northern Ethiopia.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the removals on 18 September 2026. The action followed the automatic expiry of the national emergency established under Executive Order 14046, rather than a new sanctions waiver announced specifically for Eritrea.
The order was issued by then-President Joe Biden on 17 September 2021. It declared the situation in and around northern Ethiopia to be an “unusual and extraordinary threat”, amid a humanitarian and human rights crisis linked to the conflict.
Executive Order 14046 created the authority for Washington to impose measures on entities and people it said threatened peace and stability in Ethiopia, obstructed humanitarian assistance or committed serious human-rights abuses. The order also covered conduct connected to the wider crisis in and around northern Ethiopia.
All six Eritrean designations were made by the Treasury Department on 12 November 2021 under the Ethiopia-related sanctions programme. They have now been removed because the emergency declaration expired on 18 September 2026.
The Eritrean Defence Forces were removed from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List. Eritrea's ruling People's Front for Democracy and Justice, Red Sea Trading Corporation and Hidri Trust were also taken off the sanctions list.
Abraha Kassa and Hagos Ghebrehiwet Weldekidan were removed from the Specially Designated Nationals List. Together, the four entities and two individuals had been sanctioned under the authority created by Executive Order 14046.
The expiry ends the legal basis for these designations under that programme. The available information does not establish whether the administration that issued the order, or any successor administration, considered renewing the emergency authority before it lapsed.
It is also unclear whether the delistings will result in the return of any frozen assets or allow the affected entities to resume economic activity. No information was provided on the present state of diplomatic relations between the United States and Eritrea, the economic effect of the restrictions, or any response from Eritrean officials.
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