#Iran warns of #Red_Sea disruption if #US blockade persists
Addis Abeba — Iran’s military has warned it could expand disruptions to key maritime routes, including the Red Sea, Sea of Oman and the Gulf if the United States continues its naval blockade on Iranian ports.
In a statement carried by state television, a senior official at Iran’s military central command said continued U.S. actions targeting Iranian commercial vessels and oil tankers would “create insecurity” and risk undermining an already fragile ceasefire.
“The powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and the Red Sea,” Iranian state media quoted Ali Abdollahi as saying.
He added that Iran would “act decisively to defend its national sovereignty and its interests.”
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News: #US weighs sanctions relief, diplomatic reset with #Eritrea: WSJ
Citing current and former officials, the report said the initiative, still under review, aims to reopen high-level diplomatic channels with the long-isolated state, which controls more than 1,120 kms of #Red_Sea coastline.
U.S. officials believe Eritrea’s geographic position could prove pivotal in safeguarding alternative maritime routes critical for global trade and military transit, the WSJ report noted.
https://addisstandard.com/?p=56615
Regional mega-war? How renewed conflict in #Ethiopia could pull in #Sudan
“We are in an incredibly dangerous situation.”
The prospect of renewed war in northern Ethiopia between government forces, #Tigray factions, and #Eritrea risks pulling in neighbouring Sudan and merging two of the deadliest conflicts in recent history.
After fighting a war against Tigrayan forces from 2020 to 2022, the Ethiopian government may be on the verge of resuming hostilities to consolidate control over the country’s northernmost region.
It is also increasingly threatening Eritrea. Ethiopia fought alongside Eritrea during the Tigray war but is now signalling it may seek to invade to regain direct access to #Red_Sea ports lost when its northern neighbour gained independence in 1993.
A new conflict could lead to large-scale loss of life in Ethiopia and Eritrea while also triggering a messy, protracted.....
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News: Following months of mutual accusations, #Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki accuses #Ethiopia of declaring war, dismisses Red Sea narrative
Eritrean President #Isaias Afwerki on Monday accused Ethiopia of declaring war on Eritrea and rejected narratives framing the tensions as a dispute over #Red_Sea access, in comments aired on Eritrean state television.
Following an extended discussion on United States foreign policy, President Isaias turned to his deteriorating relations with Ethiopia’s ruling party.
He rejected claims that tensions between the two countries are linked to access to the Red Sea, insisting that Eritrea harbors no such ambition. “For us, it is not directly about the Red Sea,” he said.
The Eritrean leader accused Ethiopia’s ruling Prosperity Party of advancing a broader militarized agenda, claiming that armed conflicts have persisted across the country despite the signing of the Pretoria peace agreement.
Isaias further alleged that ...
Read more: https://addisstandard.com/?p=54519
News: #Ethiopia emerging as strategic player in Red Sea amid #Israel–#Iran tensions, French journal reports
Ethiopia could become an increasingly important actor in the shifting geopolitical dynamics of the #Red_Sea as tensions between Israel and Iran expand beyond the Levant, according to a report by the French online political and intellectual journal NRP.
The report suggests that developments around the #Bab_el-Mandeb Strait and evolving regional alliances may elevate the strategic significance of Ethiopia in the Horn of #Africa and the wider Red Sea security landscape.
The publication in titled ‘Israel and Ethiopia: a secret alliance against Iran?’ highlights that the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran is extending beyond the Levant into the Horn of Africa, with the Bab el-Mandeb Strait becoming a critical maritime flashpoint.
Ethiopia’s longstanding pursuit of sovereign access to the Red Sea, the publication notes, remains central to ......
Read more: https://addisstandard.com/?p=55608
News: #Egypt denies report linking Red Sea access to #GERD flexibility
Egypt has categorically denied claims that it offered to help #Ethiopia secure access to the #Red_Sea in exchange for flexibility over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), according to Al-Ahram.
Citing a responsible Egyptian source, the newspaper said on Tuesday that reports suggesting Cairo was prepared to grant Ethiopia maritime access were “entirely unfounded” and had no basis in fact. The source reaffirmed that Egypt’s position on water security and the GERD “remains firm and unchanged.”
The denial follows a report by The National, which cited unnamed sources in Cairo as saying Egypt had conveyed a proposal to Prime Minister #Abiy Ahmed last week.
“No other states have the right to participate in any arrangements or understandings concerning the Red Sea,” the source added.
Read more: https://addisstandard.com/?p=55395
News: #PM_Abiy traces rift with #Eritrea to atrocities in #Tigray, not Red Sea access
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) told the House of Peoples’ Representatives (#HoPR) that the deterioration in relations between #Ethiopia and Eritrea began during the early phases of the two-year devastating war in the Tigray region, citing atrocities committed by Eritrean forces, and not Ethiopia’s push for access to the #Red_Sea.
Addressing lawmakers today, the Prime Minister rejected analyses that link the current rift to Ethiopia’s maritime ambitions. “Some people argue, think, and analyze that the problem between the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments arose because the Ethiopian government raised the Red Sea question. This is not the case,” Abiy said. He added that tensions long predated the sea access debate and “began during the start of the Tigray war.”
It is recalled that in October 2025, PM Abiy linked the deterioration in relations with Asmara to developments....
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#Israel plans new foothold on the Red Sea to fight the #Houthis
While the #Iran war rages, Israel is quietly planning for a potential base at the mouth of the #Red_Sea from which to strike one of the Islamic Republic's last proxies still operating at full strength: the Houthis of #Yemen.
That’s thanks to #Somaliland, the breakaway territory on the Gulf of Aden that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government recognized in December — a move that handed Israel its first diplomatic presence across from Yemen.
Now, the Jewish state will follow up with a strategic security partnership that may involve Israel building a base – possibly covert – on its pristine coast, despite widespread regional criticism, according to Khadar Hussein Abdi, Somaliland’s minister of the presidency.
“In terms of security, we will have a strategic relationship and that encompasses a lot of things,” Abdi....
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#Op_ed: Policing Water, Neglecting Land: Why naval power alone cannot save #Red_Sea
In this op-ed, Jafar Bedru Geletu argues the Red Sea crisis persists because Western powers misdiagnose a terrestrial threat as a "maritime domain" issue. He contends that non-state actors now "hold the global economy hostage without ever putting a navy to sea."
The current "littoral-only" doctrine is obsolete, failing to address the "terrestrialization" of warfare—specifically the #Houthi-#Al_Shabaab logistical nexus. Attempting to stop this with frigates is "akin to trying to stop a drug cartel solely by arresting street dealers."
Stability requires integrating #Ethiopia, the region's "center of gravity," into the security architecture. Ultimately, the West must “pivot from containment to integration,” recognizing that the Red Sea is no longer a moat but a bridge.
https://addisstandard.com/?p=55212
News: #EU urges de-escalation between #Ethiopia, #Eritrea amid Red Sea tensions, rejects #Somaliland recognition
The European Union has urged Ethiopia and Eritrea to ease rising tensions through diplomacy and economic cooperation, offering support to prevent conflict as concerns grow over security in the #Red_Sea and the Horn of Africa.
Speaking to journalists in Addis Abeba on 15 January 2026, Olaf Skoog, Deputy Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (#EEAS) for political affairs, said disputes between states are “best resolved through diplomacy in good faith,” warning that the region “has had enough of war.”
Skoog, who met with senior Ethiopian officials including President Taye Atske Selassie and Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos (PhD), said the EU is willing to act as an “honest broker” in de-escalation efforts.
Drawing on Europe’s experience in overcoming historic conflicts through integration and economic cooperation, he ....
Read more: https://addisstandard.com/?p=54602
#Commentary: The New Scramble for Horn of #Africa: Global powers’ expanding footprint; #Ethiopia’s maritime ambition
This commentary argues that the 39th #AU Summit met at a volatile moment when Africa’s development goals collided with a “fracturing global order.” Though officially focused on water, it was overshadowed by “catastrophic instability” in #Sudan and #Gaza, reflecting the “Coming Global Turn.”
The piece describes the Horn as a “cauldron of contradictions,” where a “new scramble” is unfolding and “strategic utility often outweighs legal status.” Meanwhile, Ethiopia, trapped in a “geographic prison,” views the #Red_Sea as a “structural condition for national growth,” urging “peaceful choreography” over coercion.
Without regional unity, the piece cautions, the Horn risks remaining a “peninsula of peril” driven by “foreign strategic whims.”
https://addisstandard.com/?p=55427
#Yemen Agriculture ministry condemns #Eritrean & #Somali attacks on Yemeni Fishermen
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources Ministry strongly condemned the criminal attacks and repeated violations targeting Yemeni fishermen in the #Red_Sea and the Gulf of #Aden by the Eritrean authorities and the authorities of the Somali region, describing them as a blatant violation of international, humanitarian, and maritime laws, norms, and conventions.
In a statement received by the Yemeni News Agency (Saba), the Ministry explained that Eritrean forces carried out a direct armed attack using live ammunition against civilian Yemeni fishermen within the territorial waters of the Republic of Yemen in the Red Sea, resulting in deaths and injuries, as well as the detention of a number of fishermen who were forcibly taken away.
The Ministry considered these actions a dangerous escalation that threatens the safety, security of fishermen, targets their livelihoods and .....
https://saba.ye/en/news3639829.htm