The thing is, a lot of folks don't realize that as Islamic states go, Iran is actually quite liberal, and has been getting increasingly moreso after the defeat of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president and the election of Hassan Rouhani, who has a reputation as a bit of a reformist (though how much that's actually the case is very debatable). Compared to Saudi Arabia, Iran is a paradise of liberality.

They tolerate Christians and Jews, who are permitted to worship freely, drink alcohol and raise pigs (though proselytization is forbidden, which is an issue for Christians because tellin' folks about Jesus is kinda important to us

). Women don't have to cover their faces (just their hair), and can drive and go to university - and Iran actually has some fine ones - and even become doctors. I have an Iranian friend who's mother is an anaesthesiologist - the tricky thing is Canada doesn't recognize her credentials or her medical residency, hence if she wanted to practise in Canada she'd have to re-do her residency, so she often goes back and forth between Vancouver and Tehran.
Vancouver has, so I've heard, the second-highest population of Iranians in North America after San Francisco, so it's pretty impossible to live here for awhile and not know a few.
All the above, and the fact that Iranian troops are actually involved in the fight against Daesh/ISIL, would make them a target.