European Union member states are agreed in principle to press ahead with an oil embargo on Iran but there are significant differences still over details of the plan, including the timing for implementing the plan, EU diplomats said Wednesday.

"There is a converging consensus in principle on an oil embargo," said a diplomat. "I don't see any fundamental opposition."

Earlier Wednesday, a Greek government source told Dow Jones Newswires that Greece wouldn't stand in the way of an oil embargo. Greece had led the opposition to an embargo, although other countries were concerned about moving too fast, diplomats have said in recent weeks.

However the diplomats said there was still disagreement over when the embargo would enter into force and what to do about existing contracts.

One person said that to win the backing of those who were opposed, the EU would likely agree that all existing contracts would be allowed to run to maturity. However, others said that was still to be decided, with some countries hesitant about agreeing to such a broad exception.

France proposed an oil embargo and central bank sanctions early last month as a response to Iran 's nuclear ambitions. It was backed in principle by other powerful member states like the U.K. and Germany .

However, some of Europe 's most vulnerable economies import significant amounts of crude oil from Iran , including Greece , Spain and Italy . Higher oil prices could be a significant additional burden for them.

Meanwhile, the diplomats said that member states haven't yet agreed in principle on whether to push ahead with sanctions on Iran 's central bank.

One diplomat said an options paper from the EU's foreign service unit lays out three basic approaches--a complete asset freeze on the bank, further sanctions on non-central bank financial institutions, and a third option which would hit additional Iranian financial firms with sanctions and ban certain transactions with Iran 's central bank.

"There is still not yet a decision taken on the central bank," a diplomat said.

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