London, March 10 -- British warship HMS Dragon departed for the Eastern Mediterranean on Tuesday, more than a week after Britain's air base in Cyprus was attacked by a drone in the aftermath of the United States and Israel launching attacks against Iran.

Britain's government has been criticised for not being able to send a warship to the region sooner, with military vessels from allies Greece and France arriving within days of Iran launching retaliatory attacks across the Gulf.

On March 1 RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus was hit by an Iranian-made drone, thought to have been launched from Lebanon or Iraq.

The decision to deploy the destroyer was made a week ago but it has taken days to prepare it for the journey, adding to scrutiny of Britain's ...