Despite objections by Russia, the outgoing head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency urged President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday to stick to the Bush administration''s plans to place missile defenses in Eastern Europe.

Dropping the planned installation of missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic "would severely hurt" U.S. ability to protect against Iran''s growing missile force, said Lt. Gen. Henry Obering of the Air Force.

It would also undermine U.S. leadership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which fears "an emerging threat from Iran that must be addressed," he told reporters in a teleconference.

Obering, who is retiring from the Air Force, hands over the Missile Defense Agency next Friday to his deputy, Maj. Gen. Patrick O''Reilly.

It is important to continue work on the planned European installations or risk "falling behind the power curve" as Iran develops its capabilities, Obering said. "That''s why we have to kind of stay ahead of this threat, not try to catch up after the fact."

Obama, who is to be sworn in as president on January 20, has said he would make sure any missile defense system has been proven to work before it is deployed. Obering said he had confidence in the system based on the success of 36 of 45 test missile intercepts since 2001.