I think the carrier in the Gulf is new but the French were with CTF 150 off Somalia when I was last there in ‘05-’06.
The article and the headline do not completely agree. The article says the carrier will be stationed in the region.
The region is further defined and not only the Arabian gulf but the Arabian sea, the Gulf of Oman and Aden and the coast off Kenya and Africa
I don’t know for sure, but believe the carriers et al are not all bottled up in the Gulf but are present in the larger region that includes the Gulf.