The U.S. Secretary of State filed an application and request to the Court on November 29, 1979, which recounted the occupation of the U.S. embassy in Tehran by demonstrators and the failure of the Iranian Government to aid embassy personnel. The application also noted that at least 50 Americans, mostly diplomats, were still in captivity and were threatened with having to stand trial as spies. The United States asked the Court to order Iran to release the hostages immediately as well as to take other actions. Iran neither argued before the Court nor submitted formal written arguments, although it did direct two letters to the Court. The Court ruled on December 15, 1979, and on May 24, 1980, that Iran should release the hostages. Analysis of the ways in which the Court might have contributed to the settlement of the hostage crisis and of the decisions made by the United States and the Court leads to the conclusion that although the Court's reputation may have suffered by the rendering of an apparently ineffective judgment, the United States was right to bring the case to the Court and the Court was right to decide it. Nations should take the Court's interests more into account in deciding what cases to bring to the Court. Nations should be aware that when the Court is faced with disputes not easily resolved by judicial settlement, it may suffer a blow to its prestige whether or not it decides to render a decision. Footnotes are provided. (Author abstract modified)