Bloomberg – European Union talks on an oil embargo on Iran are becoming bogged down over discussions on exemptions for existing supply contracts and the length of a planned phase-in period, according to four diplomats.

Greece, Italy and Spain are trying to soften a U.K. push for a blanket ban, concerned that an oil-supply shock would further damage their economies already hit by the European debt crisis, the diplomats said, declining to be identified because no final agreement has been reached.

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