He married his first wife, actress Shohreh Vaziri-Tabar, aka Shohreh Aghdashloo, in 1972. They divorced in 1979. After the revolution of 1979, Aghdashloo lost both his official jobs and was under threat and was barred from leaving for over 10 years, until 1989. Aghdashloo’s interest in the arts developed early, and he moved to Tehran in his youth to pursue formal education. He studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran but left before completing his degree. Nevertheless, his deep engagement with classical Persian art, Western painting techniques, and historical themes laid the foundation for a rich and reflective body of work.