I have a stand of yellow iris, very pretty in bloom, but looking a little tired right now. Still some upright green leaves but quite a few are turning brown and some are laying on the ground.
Can the whole stand be cut back? Or do I just cut out the brown leaves? I was wondering if each plant can be cut "fan" shaped, closer the ground like six inches or so. Still too early? Wait till October/November?

Pictures are a sort of before and after, was not explained in the original post

Are these iris pseudacorus?
If so, cut them back, thin them out, do whatever you want.
Very aggressive growers, considered invasive.
https://www.cal-ipc.org/plants...

Agreed, with so much brown, I expect them to take a lot of cutting back.

Not likely pseudacorus. I don't see the ridge down the center length of each leaf, similar to Japanese iris. They look more like spuria iris with the long narrow petals and smooth leaves.

What a lovely stand of irises! Yes, it is safe to cut them back. I think about 4-6" would be a good height. Usually, the all-brown leaves can be pulled out. This is also a good time to weed the group and divide, or thin to share with friends.

That is a Spuria iris, they are very long lived and drought tolerant. Cutting them back will not hurt. The clump does look overgrown and diving is a good idea, but Spuria iris can sulk much like peonies and may not bloom the following year after replanting. Wait until fall or winter to divide and hopefully they will take it better.

Buggycrazy: They look like a tangled mess but I have been in there the last day or so pulling dead leaves and cutting down dead flower stems, there is probably about 6 or 7 inches between plants when you get on your knees and look.
Not really obvious from the picture, but a lot of leaves are lying down. Equinox coming soon, I think I will get to the hard pruning first week or so of October. Then I can really see how they are laid out

It won't hurt to cut them down every summer, when it is really hot and dry they just go dormant anyway on their own, they dislike too much water so letting them go dormant is natural. And it will look better. Perhaps some sedums or such at the base to camouflage them?