At a vote in the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, China and Russia vetoed a Bahraini resolution encouraging states to coordinate efforts to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

The 15-member Security Council voted 11 in favour of the resolution, with two against and two abstentions.

“The draft resolution has not been adopted, owing to the negative vote of a permanent member of the council,” Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani told the Council.

A draft seen by AFP on Monday no longer mentions authorization to use force — even defensively.

The vote comes just hours before Donald Trump’s 8:00 pm (midnight GMT) deadline for Iran to make a deal or face the US military destroying its power plants and bridges.

Bahrain, with the backing of the United States and other oil-exporting Gulf countries, launched negotiations two weeks ago on a draft that would have given a clear UN mandate to any state wishing to use force to unblock the strait.

Read More: Timeline: Developments after Trump’s initial Hormuz deadline to Iran

Iran has imposed an effective blockade on the critical waterway since the United States and Israel launched the war on February 28, sending ripple effects throughout the global economy.

“We cannot accept economic terrorism affecting our region and the world, the whole world is being affected by the developments,” Jamal Alrowaiei, Bahrain’s ambassador to the UN, said last week.

But objections from several veto-holding permanent members — including France, Russia and China — have forced the text to be watered down and the vote delayed multiple times.

French opposition appeared to be lifted by the addition of wording that meant any action would need to be “defensive.”

The Security Council adopted a strong resolution against Tehran in mid-March, condemning its blocking of the strait.

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More to follow.