By Robert Gibbons NEW YORK, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Monday after Europea n Union foreign ministers agreed to ban imports of Iranian crude from July 1, eliciting another threat by Tehran to close the Strait of Hormuz shipping channel, and on a weaker dollar. While agreeing to an immediate ban on all new contracts to import, buy or transport Iranian crude and to freeze assets of Iran's central bank, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels agreed to phase in the embargo, allowing countries with existing contracts until July 1 to end those deals. A senior member of Iran's parliament said Iran would close the entry point to the Gulf if new sanctions block its oil exports, reiterating previous threats from Tehran. The comments added lift to crude prices. A day earlier, the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln sailed through the Strait of Hormuz and into the Gulf without incident. 'In spite of the delay to full implementation, prices have moved higher,' said Christopher Bellew, a trader at Jefferies Bache. 'It may never be fully implemented. Heaven knows what will happen between now and the first of July.' The dollar index weakened, supportive to dollar-denominated oil prices, and the euro traded at a near three-week high as euro zone finance ministers worked on an agreement on what terms of a Greek debt restructuring they are ready to accept as part of a second bailout package for Athens. Brent March crude rose $1.37 a barrel to $111.23 by 10:37 a.m. EST (1537 GMT), just under an intraday peak of $111.36 and targeting front-month Brent's 200-day moving average of $112.19. U.S. March crude rose $1.20 a barrel to $99.53, having reached $99.80 and pushed above its 50-day moving average of $99.13.

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