HMS Dragon will sail "in the next few days", Defence Secretary John Healey said, meaning the British destroyer may not arrive off Cyprus after this weekend. Healey told the Commons that the naval crews are "working tirelessly, 22 hours a day" to prepare the warship as it faces accusations of not acting fast enough to protect British interests in the region. The Labour minister said proposals to deploy the warship were discussed six days ago and then approved after about 36 hours, when a drone hit RAF airbase Akrotiri on Cyprus. This came on the fourth day of a joint US-Israeli attack against Iran, which began after a high-profile six-week US deployment to the Middle East and led to Iran's retaliatory attack on 10 countries in 24 hours. However, it took time to prepare the Royal Navy destroyer, meaning it is no longer certain that it will arrive off Cyprus this weekend. The travel time from Portsmouth is estimated at 5 to 7 days. France has already deployed its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean and French President Emmanuel Macron met with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday. The UK has been criticised by Cyprus for not defending the country, where two British bases are located, sufficiently after the drone attack. Nearby villages and non-essential personnel were evacuated, and two incoming drones were shot down. James Cartlige, the opposition's shadow defence spokesman, said France, Greece and Spain have already sent warships to Cyprus. "The Labour government's deployment of the Royal Navy to the eastern Mediterranean has completely undermined our international reputation," he said. Healey responded by blaming past Conservative governments for the "empty and underfunded" British forces, with a £12bn cut to the defence budget and a reduction in the number of frigates and destroyers from 23 to 17. Of the Royal Navy's six types of 45 destroyers, three equipped with anti-drone systems were theoretically available for deployment last week, although HMS Dragon was due to come out of dry dock. Later, Downing Street denied reports that the Prince of Wales aircraft carrier could be sent to the Middle East, as reports suggested its readiness time had been reduced to five days. Officials hinted it should be sent to the North Atlantic as part of NATO's obligations to patrol the Arctic region. Healey told MPs that the drone that hit Akrotiri was small and "came from Lebanon or Iraq" - meaning its exact origin could not yet be determined by British experts. Cypriot sources suggested a week ago that it had been launched from territory supported by Iran-backed Hezbollah militia. Fragments of the attack drone, previously described as an Iranian Shahed type, are also "being analysed for foreign military hardware", Healey said, meaning the UK was not in a position to confirm social media reports that it contained Russian components. Healey said Typhoon pilots had shot down two more drones. One was successfully shot down as it flew towards Bahrain, and the other was destroyed over Jordan. The RAF was also flying missions to protect the UAE, he added. The Iranian regime, "a source of evil" and supplied more than 60,000 drones used by Russia against Ukraine. Since the start of the war, Iran has "fired more than 500 ballistic missiles and more than 2,000 drones" at Israel and other countries in the Middle East to repay the West's interests. Before Healey's Commons statement, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she had made the Treasury's strategic reserve available to fund military operations in the Middle East. There was no immediate budgetary reason why it took so long to deploy HMS Dragon, she added.