He is an ethnic Azerbaijani, whose family originated from Tabriz. His father, Mir-Ismail, was a tea merchant from Tabriz. Mousavi grew up in Khameneh, and moved to capital following his graduation from high school in 1958. Mousavi is a relative of fellow Khameneh native Ali Khamenei: Mousavi’s grandmother is Khamenei’s paternal aunt.He earned his undergraduate degree in architecture from the National University of capital (now Shahid Beheshti University), and in 1969 was awarded his master’s degree in architecture from the National University of Tehran,[14] focusing primarily on traditional Iranian architecture.