Ali Khamenei, Iran’s late Supreme Leader who died in a US-Israeli airstrike in February 2026, had his coffin transported through Iraq in a refrigerated truck displaying a Finnish supermarket chain's orange Kesko logo [1, 2]. The vehicle, used during the procession in the holy city of Karbala, was covered by an Iranian flag and emitted visible white vapor as it carried the coffin past an estimated seven million mourners [1, 2].

The refrigerated truck bore the branding of Kesko, a Finnish retail group, which surprised and confused many Finnish citizens and media when images of the vehicle circulated [1, 3]. Kesko clarified that it does not own a dedicated logistics fleet. A contracted logistics provider failed to remove the logo when selling secondhand vehicles, a breach Kesko called "extremely unfortunate". The company emphasized it has no connection to the truck or the funeral procession [1].

According to Pekka Kuusniemi, CEO of Finnish heavy transport firm VAK Group, the truck’s refrigeration unit was manufactured 5 to 10 years ago and left their factory in 2016. He said once vehicles leave the factory, their whereabouts are uncontrollable, remarking, "Where it ended up 10 years later is completely out of our control" [1].

Earlier in June 2026, a family in northern Iraq bought the refrigerated truck from a secondhand market. They advertised it for sale on Facebook before it was passed to the Iraqi military, which eventually used it in the funeral ceremonies [1, 3].

The coffin’s journey began after Khamenei’s death at the end of February and body preservation in refrigeration. From July 6, the coffin toured from Tehran to Qom in Iran, then traveled to Najaf and Karbala in Iraq. The refrigerated truck was used specifically during the Karbala leg of the procession [2, 4].

After Karbala, Khamenei’s body was flown by fighter escort back to Mashhad, Iran, where the national funeral was held on July 9, concluding the six-day mourning period [2, 5].

Finnish social media users noted the unusual sight of a refrigerated truck with a familiar supermarket logo transporting a coffin, with one commenting, "This is big news; tiny Finland is on world pages again. Who knows if this truck sometimes hauls food and sometimes a body" [3].