The office of Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) told the Washington Free Beacon late Monday that he would support new legislation to impose greater sanctions on Iran.
"The senator is focusing his efforts on preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons capability and plans to co-sponsor Senator Menendez’s new sanction legislation when it is introduced," Schumer spokeswoman Meredith Kelly told the Free Beacon via email.
Schumer, who has backed past bills aimed at penalizing Iran, initially did not respond to requests seeking confirmation on reports that he would in fact back new sanctions.
Kelly did not respond to subsequent questions attempting to discern why Schumer had not already signed on to co-sponsor the legislation, which has been public and in the works for months.
Sen. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) is expected to file Monday evening a new sanctions bill titled, the Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2015.
However, it remained unclear as of press time whether Menendez would lend his name to that bill, given recent comments.
While Menendez and Kirk have historically filed such legislation together, Menendez has hinted in past days that he will rally Democrats to delay a vote on the new sanctions legislation.
The chaotic situation surrounding the bill has prompted speculation that the White House could again be successful in its efforts to block all new sanctions on Iran.