TBMan said:trimming spent/diseased iris foliage at any time is beneficial from the standpoint of clean garden culture which pre-empts disease development and insect infestation.
HOWEVER ..........
Cutting the green healthy growth, just because traditional garden wisdom says so, is in my IMHO, an unproductive task. Please remember, that bearded iris, no matter where you live, never truly go in a bona fide "dormancy" in the summer.
They are in a modified growth phase, in which metabolites synthesized in the leaves are being directed down to the rhizome for storage until needed the following spring for growth and bloom. Also, anchor roots are being put down at this time. These anchor roots are gathering, primarily phosphorus and potassium, (as well as moisture). This P and K loading by the anchor roots is best combined with the sugars and other metabolites produced in the leaves for optimum starch and sugar composition in the rhizome.
If you aren't transplanting or shipping iris, save yourself some work and hold off on the foliage cutting until fall, when the plants truly enter into winter dormancy
with you on that. I only cut the ones that were being infested by grasshoppers and sun damaged. Grasshoppers have been really bad these last few years. I am an all natural guy when it comes to my plants. (No pesticides and such) I even pull the weeds by hand. 
and by the time it's about mid July, that's when the heat tends to come in and play with Mother Nature's Magic and starts destroying wildlife. (for example wildfires) I have daylilies right now that have burnt foliage tips.
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