Open URL in new Safari tab with AppleScript

Question

Is it possible to use AppleScript to open a link in a new tab in Safari?

Answer 1

It's been a while since a new answer's been posted here. I think this is the optimal way to do this. It will open Safari if it's not open, create a new window if there are no windows open, and add the tab to the current (or newly created) window.

tell application "Safari"
    activate
    try
        tell window 1 to set current tab to make new tab with properties {URL:theURL}
    on error
        open location theURL
    end try
end tell