Ethiopia’s Assab Claim Sparks War Threat in Horn

Ethiopia’s president Abiy Ahmed has said regaining the Red Sea port of Assab would correct a “historical mistake” and solve an “existential question” for landlocked Ethiopia. In response, Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel accused Addis Ababa of irredentism and an unjustified war. The tension follows a 1998 border clash that ended with Eritrea’s 1993 independence under Isaias Afwerki and subsequent Ethiopian annexation moves in 1952 and 1962. Eritrea closed Assab to Ethiopian trade after 1998, tightening its security apparatus and raising fears that a new conflict could fracture the strategically vital Horn region.