Joined by three Western allies, the United States on Wednesday escalated pressure on Iran over its space launch last week, saying the act disregarded a United Nations Security Council resolution on the use of missiles and was “threatening and provocative.”

In a letter to the Security Council and Secretary General António Guterres, Ambassador Nikki R. Haley of the United States and envoys from Britain, France and Germany said the Iranian missile that carried a satellite into orbit was “inherently capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.”

Under the Security Council resolution, 2231, which endorsed the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, Iran is called upon “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.”

The Trump administration, which has been seeking ways to declare Iran in violation of the nuclear agreement, quickly placed sanctions on Iranian companies connected to the launch last week, a unilateral and largely symbolic act that was expected to have little or no practical effect.