Pasdar the eldest of three sons was born in Kermanshah, Iran. His father was Koocheck Pasdar, a General in the Iranian Army under the Shah of Iran. His mother Simin Fardsavar-Pasdar was a school teacher from Shiraz, Iran. Pasdar is also related to actor Adrian Pasdar. His family fled Iran to the United States in 1979 to escape the revolution. Arriving to the U.S. under a tourist visa, his family's requests for political asylum were denied, driving a long process for the family to establish themselves legally and financially in the United States.