Dhaka, March 4 -- Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has emerged as a leading contender to succeed his father following his death in a missile strike on Feb 28.

Iranian officials told The New York Times that Mojtaba, 56, was put forward as the primary candidate during two meetings of the Assembly of Experts, the powerful body of senior clerics responsible under the constitution for appointing and supervising the supreme leader.

The 88-member assembly is expected to hold a closed vote to select the next leader -- only the second such process since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The previous vote in 1989 elevated Ali Khamenei to the position after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini....