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With irons, I have often hit the ball on the heel of the clubface and sometimes shank. I know the common cure is to stand with your weight evenly placed between the balls of your feet and the heels of your feet, or, to place more weight on your heels. I tried this and it kind of worked. Then, I stood further back from the ball and started contacting the ball in the center of the face, with no shanks.
Would standing too close also contribute to hooking the ball?

Not in itself...merely standing closer to the ball won't cause a hook. What happens when you stand too close, however, is that you will have to cram the arms and hands in tight in order to make the pass...this will naturally promote a push/slice, all other things held equal, i.e. grip is good, swing plane, etc. So you're probably shutting the clubface down to account for the crammed hands. IMO, the more directly below the chin the hands hang, the better. If you get outside or inside that then you're having to adjust and modify the swing plane...learn to keep the hands in the same position under the chin and you'll become a more consistent ball striker...not only that, you'll just naturally learn how far to stand away from the ball and it won't ever change.

Shade

That's a great tip; I will keep my hands directly under my chin. I have always underestimated how far I should stand away from the ball but it IS one of the CHIEF fundamentals to consistent ball striking. That's probably been one ot the main reasons I have always been a 13-14 handicap.