iControlREST replace iRule references on all virtual servers

Since the task requires search and manipulation of the returned JSON data, you should consider writing a script rather than combining a number of $1 calls. A Python example code below should do the job.

from sys import argv
from f5.bigip import ManagementRoot
import urllib3

 Disable SNIMissingWarning and InsecurePlatformWarning
urllib3.disable_warnings()

nameOldRule = argv[1]
nameNewRule = argv[2]

mgmt = ManagementRoot('ltm1311', 'admin', 'admin')   Change me

 Get me all the virtuals
virtualCollection = mgmt.tm.ltm.virtuals.get_collection()

for v in virtualCollection:                          All the virtuals
    vsname = v.__dict__['name']                      Get the virtual name

    try:
        oldRules = v.__dict__['rules']               Check if it has any rules
    except KeyError:
        continue

    try:                                             Check if it has the nameOldRule
        index = oldRules.index(nameOldRule)
    except ValueError:
        continue

    newRules = oldRules
    newRules[index] = nameNewRule                    Replace nameOldRule > nameNewRule
    vs = mgmt.tm.ltm.virtuals.virtual.load(name=vsname)
    vs.update(rules=newRules)                        Update the virtual
    print('Updated {}: {} > {}'.format(vsname, oldRules, newRules))

Specify the old and new rules in full path as the 1st and 2nd arguments to the program: e.g., $1. It first gets all the virtuals on the box ($1). Then, for each virtual, check if it has any rules (otherwise go to next virtual), check if has the old rule, then replace that element with the new one and put it back to the virtual ($1). The rules attached to a virtual is stored in a list (array), so they are ordered: The order of rules won't change.

See also F5 Python SDK Documentation.