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That Carter could make such an assessment was a measure of how completely his attention is focused on freeing the hostages, for there was some major bad news last week: Saudi Arabia unexpectedly raised its oil prices by a third, to $24 per bbl., and Venezuela, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar soon followed suit. Western oil experts reacted with consternation to the hikes, fearing that they presaged much higher price increases than had been forecast at this week's meeting in Caracas of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (see ECONOMY & BUSINESS).
Khomeini's apparent willingness to let foreigners visit the hostages at the embassy caused no letup in the Administration's diplomatic and economic campaign to win their freedom. The U.S. last week made another impassioned appeal to world opinion, this time before the International Court of Justice at The Hague, which is an arm of the United Nations that usually deals with more prosaic matters like fishing rights. The court has no enforcement powers and, in fact, has not had a case of worldwide significance since 1971, when it ruled that South Africa had no right to rule Namibia; South Africa has yet to comply with the decision. Nonetheless, the court offered the U.S. another international forum for airing its case against Iran, and Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti made the most of it.
When he rose to voice the American appeal to the 15 judges, across a long polished table in the Great Hall of Justice, a lofty room with imposing stained-glass windows and huge cut-glass chandeliers, all 250 seats were taken—except for the ten reserved for Iran, which boycotted the hearing. Civiletti argued that Iran was violating four international agreements—all signed by Iran—in holding the hostages. He urged the judges to take "the quickest possible action to end a barbarous captivity." Said he: "This imprisonment is illegal and inhuman. I ask you to save [the hostages'] lives and set those human beings free." Moving swiftly, the court delivered its verdict at week's end, calling for the immediate release of the hostages.
For Carter and American allies in Europe, the next step may be new economic pressure on Iran. Specific measures have not yet been determined, but they could include a partial embargo on trade, a clampdown on financial transactions or a freeze on credit guarantees, all of which would further snarl the Iranian economy.
The Administration has even considered asking the U.N. Security Council to impose some form of economic sanctions on Iran. But U.S. allies seem reluctant to go that far, and a resolution calling for sanctions might well be vetoed by the Soviet Union. Moscow has demanded the hostages' release but at the same time expressed sympathy for Iran's insistence that the exiled Shah be turned over for trial.