I wouldn't call it whataboutism, it's thinking about things from another perspective. It's easy to say other people should take action when things get out of hand, it's entirely another thing to actually take up action against an entity which can crush you and everything you love without a second thought.

I would never expect the average Iranian to take up arms against the Revolutionary Guard, for example. I wouldn't, if it were me. I don't feel such patriotism that I feel responsible for my country's actions. I don't feel that I am personally culpable in any way for, for example, the extrajudicial murders of Afghanis by Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan.